The Art of Thievery
by Rosz-chan
Summary: Bakura doesn't know it (yet) but his new houseguests are the ones responsible for the major priceless art & precious jewelry heists in Domino City. But that's only practice. Their real targets are Items of Power..
1. Prologue

The Art of Thievery  
by Rosz of the Angel  
  
Rosz: -_- i've been thinking....  
  
Yuriko: *under breath* uh-oh..  
  
Rosz: i've received 3 flames for my first fic, from the same person (DEATH (go to hell)). at first, i was angry: you can't expect much from a first fic! -_- then, i reflected upon it, and decided i didn't care: hell, it's your opinion. finally, i realized that the story DID suck.... ;P so, i'm gonna revise it. i think this'll be an improvement.  
  
Yuriko: ....what kind of anonymous name is "DEATH (go to hell)", anyway??? it's corny, if you ask me..  
  
Rosz: no one asked you. (Yuriko: i said "IF"..) anyway, i don't own YuGiOh, no matter how much i wanna own Ryou and his Yami, and the Millenium Ring, too.. but i do own this fic, and my OCs (which features yours truly and Yuriko.. and my OOC best friend. -^.^-).  
  
Yuriko: enjoy. oh, and please review to tell Rosz what you think of the story. she needs to know if this is good.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
::Chapter One::   
A Grand Heist to Start Off the New Year  
  
  
  
The guards were doing their usual midnight run in the shadows of the Domino City Musuem of History, doing their job of guarding important artifacts, from preserved bones of long-dead creatures, to the firey glimmers of the precious jewels of royal families. At least, they were supposed to. Right now, they were trying to beat the crap out of each other at a game of gin, to celebrate the New Year.  
  
The perfect distraction for any professional thief.  
  
Unseen by the guards on the second floor, two figures slipped from an open window on the seventh, silently blending in with the dark shadows of the room as soon as they stepped inside. Both waited, counting the seconds, and watched the red light on the security camera in the corner.  
  
"3.... 2.... 1...."  
  
The light flickered, and died. So did the power of the musuem.  
  
"Aw, shit," a guard grumbled in Japanese, fumbling with his flashlight. "damn power generator. Better do a run, just in case any little bad burglar is running around." He snapped his fingers, boasting, "But i'll catch them, before they think of setting foot outside the hall."  
  
"You do that, Taku," another grunted, "i'll call up the power company to see what's up. Carson," he said, directing his attention to the last person of the group, "check out the monitors."  
  
Carson nodded, "Will do, Kusonoki," and he picked up his flashlight. As Taku strode down one end of the corridor, he went down the other, into the main security room.  
  
After seeing his companions depart, Kusonoki took one last gulp of gin, and went to call the power company.  
  
An outside associate of the intruders, who had re-wired the phonelines via her laptop, picked up on the second ring.  
  
"Konban wa {Good evening}," she said in a professional, feminine voice, "You've just reached Fuku&Yoshi Power Inc. How may we help you?"  
  
"Power's down here at the Domino City Musuem of History," replied the guard.  
  
"Ah. There's been a small glitch in the system," the associate explained fluently. "What a way to start off the New Year, ne {right}?" she laughed, "Don't worry, we'll be dispatching a group right now. They'll reach you in.. 30 minutes."  
  
Kusonoki hung up, and made his way toward the Security Room. Carson swung his swivel chair around and faced him. "So....?"   
  
Kusonoki sighed and leaned against the wall. "Glitch in the system," he answered, "With what the museum's paying 'em, you'd think they'd be doing this on purpose, just to run the budget dry."  
  
  
Meanwhile, the two shadows in the darkness took advantage of this little "power shortage". Without hesitation, one of them set to work, reprogramming security camera #6 with a doctored tape, just above the case containing the Snowcap Diamonds Tiara. The other rummaged through her bags with gloved hands, and took out a black case, focusing on the tiara below camera #6.  
  
The Snowcap Diamond Tiara, one piece of the seven Elemental Jewels collection. Diamonds so white, and diamonds so clear, crystal clear, all set against a pure silver tiara, with a complex style of swirls and twirls. Fit for a snow queen of winter, one would say. They glimmered, and the moonlight shining through the open window only enhanced their beauty.  
  
"Rosemarie," the girl whispered to her partner, the one working on the camera, "how long do i have?"  
  
"Rosemarie" glanced at her. It was not her real name, merely a codename given to her for jobs like these. "Twenty-one mintues, Suzette," she whispered back, before returning to her task. "But you'd better hurry anyways."  
  
"Suzette"--- yet another codename--- nodded. She opened the black case, and took out a small device. It looked like a narrow, keychain calculator, but upon closer inspection, it was really a laser cutter. If one really examined it, they would realize it was state-of-the-art technology. Anyway, Suzette took out another device, a spray can that would uncover any hidden laserbeams.  
  
Suzette knew that even though the little power shortage knocked most of the security alarms out, the more precious pieces, like the Elemental Collection, had a backup alarm with their own simple power generator. Knocking out this power source would waste time, so all she could do was take the tiara right then and there.  
  
The girl fished through her bag, and pulled out a pouch. Suzette pulled out a cardboard cut-out of the tiara.   
  
Their outside associate, the one who pretended to work at the Fuku&Yoshi Power Inc. had assured them that the case was not booby-trapped. It was the item inside that was. Suzette did not doubt this person, and started to trace a thin-lined circle with her laser cutter into a side of the case. Next, she sprayed the can's contents, revealing several hidden beams. All she had to do was avoid them, and replace the Tiara with the cut-out, to mock the security. Then, she'd put back the cut-out circle. She worked quickly, and coolly, all under three minutes. Eighteen mintues left.  
  
That done, she turned her attention to another jewel of the Elemental Jewels: the Deepsea Sapphire Necklace. She repeated the process. Fifteen minutes. Soon, the Amazon Emerald Pendant was gone, the Blazing Fire Ruby Ring disappeared, as well as the Blue Sky Aquamarine Earrings, with cardboard cut-outs in their place. Six minutes. Both halves of the Ying-Yang Amulet--- the Midnight Sky Amethyst and the Angel's Light Pearl--- were also taken.  
  
Roszmarie turned around to her partner-in-crime, who had just finished up. "Time's up," she announced.  
  
"Let's bail outta here," said Suzette, "Azura expects us in five minutes."  
  
"I wonder how she did when she posed as that power company telephone operator.."  
  
"We can ask here when we get there."  
  
"I hope the guards like our surprise.."  
  
"They'll be shocked."  
  
"You know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What a way to start off the new year."  
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
  
As the two girls exited the building to hook up with their associate, the power returned. During the outtage, the monitors were rendered useless. Now, with the power returning, the two guards watched the screens.  
  
"We'll have to rewind," Carson said.  
  
"How? I thought nothing was working while the power was down."  
  
"Anything, which was nearly everything, that relied on the musuem's generator was out of the comission. Not the cams, though. The cameras have their own batteries for recording, just in case for these types of situations."  
  
Kusonoki whistled. "High-tech," he commented. Carson snorted. "Not even close. It's just common sense put into use." As he rewinded everything, something white flashed on Screen #6. Frowning, he stopped it, and played.  
  
"(((O____O))) BLOODY MOTHER FUCKIN' HELL!!!"  
  
A white, ghostly figure entered the screen. It was a young, slender teen girl with long silvery hair, in a flowing silver dress. Everything about her was either white or silver: her hair, body, jewelry.... like a ghost. She walked down the hall lightly, her hair swaying to an unseen wind. What didn't help the guards was the obvious fact that they could see paintings right through her.  
  
The girl, whose face was hidden in the shadows, turned to them, and held out a beckoning hand. Her mouth formed the words, "Come.... Come to me.... Come!"  
  
Light-amber eyes, almost a sickly yellow, stared at them through the Mardi Gras-style mask, which the ghostly face donned.  
  
The girl smiled with white, pearly teeth, and faded, leaving two very freaked out guards. Her mouth still formed the words, "Come to me.... Come.."  
  
"Holy shit...." Carson fumbled with his walkie-talkie. "Come in, Taku. Come in, you asshole...."  
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
  
"Azure", which was another codename, was waiting outside for her two companions in a black Lexus. She was pretty new to this business: this was only her third job. But she was catching on quickly. She had to: one mistake done by her could cost the whole mission.  
  
The asian girl--- a native-born Filipina, to be exact--- gazed at the digital clock from the back of the luxury car, which read: 11:55pm. Her friends had five minutes. Any later, she'd have to ditch them, no matter how much she didn't want to. Hell, she didn't even master driving yet..  
  
At 11: 58, her cell phone rang. Azure pressed the answer button. "Konnichiwa," she answered, "Who's calling?"  
  
"Us, Azure," was the caller's reply, "Open the car. We'll have to make haste."  
  
Azure frowned, and tensed. "Why? Did you mess up?"   
  
"No."   
  
Azure breathed in relief.   
  
"I just forgot to erase that hologram tape."  
  
"Aww, shiiiiit!" wailed Azure. "Damnit, Rosemarie! I told you to not to forget that step! The police could trace that to us. They---"  
  
"Chill," said a new voice on the other line coolly. It was Suzette. "What can the police do? They aren't even half as high-tech as we are. Not even one-fourth."  
  
Azure bit her lip. "But, the bountyhunters are!" she cried. This was too early for her career to end! And she was still a minor!  
  
"Azure, cut it out!" said the voice of Rosemarie, "Stop worrying me! Just open the godfreakin' door already!" Azure obliged, and not a moment too soon. One of the girls--- Suzette--- entered the drivers seat, revving the engine up. Another--- Rosemarie--- climbed into the back, holding a heavy bag. Azure eyed it.  
  
Rosemarie, seeing the interest in her best friend's eyes, threw the bag toward her. "Wanna see our catch of the night?" she asked, grinning. Azure nodded eagerly, and opened the bag, pulling out the tiara first. She stared at it with wide eyes, as Rosemarie threw off her darkcolored shirt and pants. Underneath was a lightgreen tee, and leg-hugging dark-blue jeans. She also threw off a mask she had been wearing throughout the whole operation.   
  
"They're sooo sparkly," whispered Azure. She placed upon her head, and turned her head left and right. "Well, how do i look?" she asked, smiling like she was part of a beauty pageant.  
  
Suzette threw off her mask, while holding the steering wheel with one hand. Turning down an empty road, she unzipped her black blazer. At the next trafficlight, she took it off, revealing a bloodred tanktop. Glancing at the rear mirror, where Azure was wearing the tiara, she snapped, "Put the tiara back! Do you wanna be caught when we're this far? You can look at it when we arrive home."  
  
Azure grumbled, and placed the pretty, eye-catching piece of jewelry back into the bag. Rosemarie glanced at the clock, and blinked. 12:05am. It was a whole new year for five minutes now. Outside the window, she could see fireworks lighting up the sky. How could she and Azure miss that?  
  
Suzette smiled as she drove into a driveway of a one-floor house.   
  
"Happy New Year's, girls."  
  
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
Rosz: ^_^ so, hoped you liked this fic. And since i won't be able to put up another chapter tomorrow, Happy New Year's [Eve].  
  
Yuriko: the only reason she won't be able to put up another chapter anytime soon is because she still hasn't been able to finish her vacation homework.... instead, she's been typing this bit up, as well as her other chapters for her other fics.  
  
Rosz: oh, and here's the meanings of the codenames. I'm in this, Yuriko's in this, and my OOC bestfriend is in this. Try to guess who's who for fun. ^_^  
  
Suzette- lily (French)  
Azure- blue (French)  
Rosemarie- bitter rose (French)  
  
  
~*~ ^.^ ~*~ 


	2. New Houseguests

The Art of Thievery  
By Rosz of the Angel  
  
Disclaimer: i don't own YGO, a'right?   
  
PS: just in case you didn't know, "Suzette" was Yuriko; "Rosemarie" was Rosz; and "Azure" was Blu.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
::Chapter One::   
New Housemates   
  
  
  
Boring.. *click* boring.. *click* Boring.. *click* boring.. *click* Boring.. *click* boring.. *click* Boring.. *click* boring.. *click*   
  
The girl on the couch sighed, sipping a can of Cola. There was nothing interesting on TV. You'd think there'd be something fascinating on TV on New Year's, she thought, disgusted. But nooo.. Everyone's gotta be on vacation, so there's no new shows.. except for those talk shows and all, but those don't count.  
  
"--- Coming up next, right after these commercial messages: A burglary at the Domino City Musuem of History."  
  
The girl stopped, and laid the remote down. So, the burglary's been reported, ne? Of course. The musuem wants to make sure the thieves are caught. After all, they DID steal the musuem's latest important addition of jewelry.  
  
Hmm..   
  
"Oi, Rosz! Blu! Get your ass over here!" she yelled over her shoulder. Two other girls entered the room. Both had dark-brown hair, and they stared at the caller through half-lidded eyes.  
  
"What is it, Yuriko?" the taller of the two yawned. She twirled a strand of her straight hair with a finger. The shorter girl looked at the TV with interest.  
  
"We're gonna be mentioned on TV, right?" she guessed.  
  
Yuriko nodded, and tucked her knee-length, silvery-white hair behind her ears. "Right, Blu," she answered. The other girl, Rosz, flopped beside her on the couch, wide-awake now. Yuriko glanced at her.  
  
"What's up with you?" she asked.  
  
Rosz stifled another yawn. "I spent the night looking for a buyer, for our catch of last night."  
  
Blu's eyes sparkled. "Man, they are so pretty!" she squealed, "Can we keep one? Just one?"  
  
Yuriko shook her head, and brought a finger to her lips. "Shh, the news is back."  
  
"Just last night," the anchorperson began on the TV, "the night of New Year's, there was a burglary at the Domino City Musuem of History. The Elemental Jewels Collection has been stolen. Sarah Wellsman has the story."  
  
Another person, a young lady, in her late-twenties, appeared on the screen, inside the same room that the Jewels had been before they were stolen.  
  
"The Elemental Jewels are reknowned throughout the world for their beauty," she said in a dramatic tone, "Perfectly cut gems, with a shimmering lust to them. They are worth their weight in gold, perhaps even more. The Elemental Jewels were said to belong to seven priestesses throughout the world in an unknown era, representing the Seven Elements: Ice, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Light, and Dark. From last month until last night, they resided in the Domino City Musuem of History.  
  
"But just last night, they have disappeared. The authorities have no clue how this could've happened, except one lead. There was a minor power shortage, three security guards reported, but it seemed that only the musuem lost power.  
  
"Investigators suspect this was part of the burglary. The only evidence left behind by the thieves were cardboard cut-outs of the Jewels and a tape. While psychologists are reveiwing the cut-outs--- they think that the thieves left behind a message, and it would give them a motive--- investigators are studying the tape that was left behind.  
  
"Apparently, the tape was used to reprogram a security camera. Here's what was on the tape."  
  
The screen paused, and there was a replay of the ghostly girl. The reporter returned.  
  
"Investigators say that though this is a very well-made hologram, they will be able to trace it back the exact computer that it was made. It will take some time, about a week or two, but it will be done. This is Sarah Wellsman reporting. Happy New Year to you all. Now back to you, Jack."  
  
"Yes, thank you---"  
  
The three girls paled, and ignored the TV. Then, a pair of dark-brown eyes (Blu's) and crimson-red eyes (Yuriko's) glared at a fidgetting Rosz. She squirmed guiltily under their intense gazes.  
  
"Um.... oops?"  
  
"Shit!" Blu yelled, jumping up, "I TOLD you they would be able to trace it! But noooo---"  
  
"Calm down," Yuriko sighed, massaging her temples. "It's just a minor setback."  
  
"'Minor setback'?!" Blu threw up her hands in the air. "This is my first major heist, and all you say it's a 'minor setback'?! My career hasn't even lasted a whole MONTH! Why me, God...?" she moaned.  
  
"All we gotta do is sell that computer, and move out," Yuriko said calmly.   
  
Blu's eyes widened. "'S-sell that computer'?" she whispered hoarsely. "Yuri-chan, but.. but.. BUT it's not ours!" She shook her head. "And we don't have enough time to move out," she argued. "Filling all that paperwork just to move out would take more than two weeks!"  
  
Yuriko sighed. "Blu, Fern-san, the landlady, is a close associate with Rosz's family. She's the one that got us the blueprints of the Domino Musuem. She'll hook us up with another apartment. Speaking of which, i'd best call her right now. Start packing, you two."   
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
  
"Well?"  
  
Rosz and Blu looked at Yuriko expectedly. They had done half of the packing while Yuriko had called the landlady about the sudden change, and the need for moving. Yuriko had told them that the landlady already had a place for them to stay, but the thing was, they'd had to house with someone else, who wasn't aware of their criminal background.  
  
"A civilian?" Rosz asked, crossing her arms. "Why? I hope it's not another old person. They get so nosy, prying into our business."  
  
"We have no other alternative," replied the white-haired girl. "And don't worry, we'll be staying with an archaeologist. The archaeologist is usually on expeditions, so he poses no problem. So then, we'll be the only ones home."  
  
"Archaeologist? Bo~ring," Rosz yawned.  
  
"Did you gather anymore info on them?" asked Blu.  
  
Yuriko shook her head. "Not much. All I know is that the father is an achaeologist, who's currently at home. But he will be leaving this weekend, a good three days away. While he's gone, we might have to go to school. Fern-san is thinking of doing so anyway."  
  
At the mention of school, Rosz's and Blu's faces darkened as one. "WE don't have to go to school, right?" This was more of a demand than a question. Yuriko shrugged. "It depends. My guess is that we'll have to."  
  
"Damn," Rosz muttered. Blu nodded in agreement.  
  
"If we do have to go to school," continued Yuriko, "I'll be enrolled into Domino High as a 16-year-old sophmore, which technaically, I am. But you two will have to enrolled into Domino Junior High as eighth graders, which is, by the why, a seperate building."  
  
"Aw, damnit!" the younger girls swore in unison. "I hate school!"  
  
"Give me news, not history," Yuriko said dismissively, rolling her eyes. "Besides, if we don't go to school, someone will be on our case, and they'll be watching our moves."  
  
"I hate homework!" the girls muttered. "Damn homework.."  
  
Yuriko sighed. "Oh, shut up both of you," she snapped. "Help me pack up anything you've left. Don't bother with the furniture: they're Fern-san's."  
  
"Yes, Yuri-chan.." Rosz and Blu grumbled.  
  
"All we need is the Fern-san's confirmation that the archaeologist will be allowing us to stay over. We have to be ready, though. She'll give us the greenlight anytime now."  
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
  
((At Ryou's place))  
  
  
The phone rang.  
  
"I'll get it!" said a soft, British-accented voice. Ryou Bakura picked up the phone, saying, "Moshi-moshi. Who is speaking?"  
  
A smooth, female voice answered, "Fern Gabrielle. I have a favor to ask of Bakura-san."  
  
"Konnichiwa {hello}, Fern-san," said Ryou, "One moment." Covering the mouthpiece, he said loudly, "Dad! It's for you!"  
  
"Got it!" his father answered, who had picked up the phone in the other room. Ryou placed the phone back into its cradle, and went upstairs to his bedroom.  
  
"Ah, hello, Fern-chan. How may i help you?" asked Mr. Bakura.  
  
"I have an important favor to ask of you. I hope you will help me."  
  
The older man laughed. "Why, of course, of course."  
  
"I have these three girls, whose guardians have entrusted to me for a while. But i'm am to be.. called away on business, and I cannot bring them with me. Please, will you let them house with you, while I'm gone? They will be no trouble, I assure you, socially or financially. Their guardians will send them allowances, so not to trouble you for food and the like."  
  
Mr. Bakura rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But I will have to leave the country myself, this weekend."  
  
"That is no problem. The girls are quite able to take care of themselves. Consider that if you agree, you'll be debt-free."  
  
He chuckled. "Threatening me, Fern-chan? No, I'm kidding. Of course they can stay here. For how long?"  
  
"Uhm.." there was a pause on the other end, "About a year, give or take an extra month."  
  
"That won't be a problem, I suppose. When are they coming?"  
  
"Hmm.. Two days from now. Is that a problem?"  
  
"No, no. Well, good day, Fern-chan."  
  
"Sayonara {Good-bye}, Bakura-san. Happy New Year's. *click!*"  
  
The archaeologist hung up the phone. Now, how to tell Ryou about this.. Ah, he thought, I'll keep it as a surprise.  
  
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
  
((Asatte... The day after the next))  
  
  
It was a fairly quiet day. Ryou was just about done with his homework, when the bell rang. Knowing that his dad was in the bathroom, Ryou answered the door.  
  
At the door were three teens, and a lady, whom he knew was Fern-san. "Hello, Fern-san," he greeted.   
  
Fern-san, a native-Japanese lady who was in her early thirties, smiled at him. "Hello, Ryou-kun," she said, "Where's your father?"  
  
"He's upstairs," Ryou replied, stepping aside, allowing them entrance into his home. Fern sat down on a couch. The three girls, all holding black duffel bags, sat down as well.  
  
Two of the girls had dark-brown hair. The taller of the two was probably up to his nose, while the other, who was couple of inches shorter, was probably up to his shoulders. They looked around with curiousity in their dark-brown eyes. They were whispering softly to each other in English, glancing at Ryou. Though he understood and spoke the language, Ryou couldn't pick up any words.  
  
(Authoress's Note: The main language here is Japanese. Any language change will be noted.)  
  
His attention was now on the last girl, who was clearly two or three years older than the other two girls. He was surprised by her haircolor. She had long silvery-white hair, which she put into a long ponytail. (Rosz: Like Lara Croft! ^_^ She's cool.) But what surprised him the most where the color of her eyes, which were a crimson-red, much like Yami Yugi's and, sometimes, like his Yami's. Though they weren't directed at him, he could sense they were studying him.  
  
His father entered the room. "Ah, Fern-san!" he greeted, hugging the lady in a friendly fashion, "How are you?"  
  
"Fine, fine," was her reply. "Here are the girls." She glanced at them, saying, "Introduce yourself, dears. Get familiar with your new hosts."  
  
'Hosts'? wondered Ryou.  
  
The three girls stood up, but laid down their bags. The white-haired girl spoke first, her face expressionless. She bowed, saying in a clear, silky voice, "Konnichiwa. My name is Yuriko.. Haqikah. Pleasure's mine," she added.  
  
The taller of the dark-haired girls, bowed also, in a more casual fashion. "Hi," she said cheerfully, though a bit shyly, "I'm Rosz Ambre." She straightened, and Ryou could see she was about the same height as of "Haqikah". Or "Yuriko".. He didn't know which was her last name, which depended if she used Japanese tradition, or not. Same with the her companions.  
  
The last girl didn't bow, but instead shook his hand, and his dad's. She wasn't used to Japanese customs like the other two. "I'm Blu Estelle," she said, a bit shyly as well.  
  
The middle-aged man smiled heartily, clapping Ryou's back. "Welcome! I am Raoul Bakura [1]. This," he motioned to the white-haired boy, "is my son, Ryou Bakura. I understand you're from the United States of America, yes? So, you weren't putting your surnames first."  
  
The girls nodded. "But, please, call us by our first names," they requested at the same time. Yuriko looked slightly annoyed when Rosz and Blu grinned at each other widely, and slapped a high-five.  
  
"So you speak English fluently, right? Mr. Bakura asked them.  
  
Rosz nodded, her head bouncing up and down. "Oh, yeh. We're also bilingual, because my parents travels a lot." Then she smiled. "But this is our third time traveling without my parents."  
  
Mr. Bakura clapped his hands. "Well, now," he began, "I suppose you'll be wanting to settle in. And, of course, Fern-san has places to go."  
  
Ms. Fern nodded, and stood up. "Thank you for taking them in," she said, walking to the door. "I have business that must be seen to. Oh, and remember, the girls will have to attend school Monday."  
  
"Of course, of course! Take care, Fern-san," he said as she closed the door.   
  
He turned around. "You girls can take your bags upstairs," he told them. "Second door to your right."  
  
"Thanks," said Rosz, who followed her friends upstairs.  
  
"Yeah, thank you!" Blu called over her back. Yuriko nodded.  
  
Ryou turned to his dad. "Dad, what was that about?" he asked. "Are they guests?"  
  
His dad chuckled. "No, Ryou," he said, "they're your new housemates."  
  
  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
Rosz of the Angel: W0W.... I actually finished this chapter within a week since I've worked on it.... ~(^^)~ Coolies! And, i'm working on the next chapter. It's probably gonna take longer, with damn schoolwork and all..  
  
Yuriko: This chapter lacks action.  
  
Rosz: *sigh* I know.. I can't make chapters action-packed. Hell, i can't even write much action. I really need practice.. Besides, this chapter was only starting off the story..  
  
Yuriko: Right.  
  
Rosz: Anyways, the action's gonna come in later on. There MIGHT be Romance (Yami B/OC), but i'm not sure if i wanna do that.. if i COULD do it, actually; I'm not sure if i can write romance.... Well, i'll try. If i DO decided there's gonna be romance, i'll add it to the category once i post up the chapter that begins the romance.. Do i make any sense?  
  
Yuriko: You hardly do, anyway.  
  
Rosz: (-_-;) Thank, yami, for keeping this certain authoress humble.  
  
Yuriko: *shrugs* No problem.   
  
Rosz: T.T meanie..  
  
Yuriko: Thank You.  
  
Rosz: *sigh* This conversation is pretty pointless. I'll leave it off here. PLEASE, REVIEW! (since you've obviously already read.) 


	3. Back into the Night

The Art of Thievery  
By Rosz of the Angel  
  
Disclaimer: i don't own YGO, a'right? ....And i don't know any other language besides English, except for some Japanese, a few French and Spanish, and that's basic'ly it.  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~   
  
His dad chuckled. "No, Ryou," he said, "they're your new housemates."  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~   
::Chapter Two::   
Back Into the Night  
Ryou stared at him. "You're joking, right?" he asked finally.   
  
"No joke," he father chortled, heading for the garage. Ryou sank down into the couch. Did his dad this of his reaction funny? Ryou shook his head, and focused on the more important topic in his head: Houseguests? he thought. "For how long are they staying over?" he asked his dad, yelling.  
  
"Oh, about a year and a month," was his answer.  
  
Yami will NOT be happy, he thought, sighing. It's bad enough when Dad's around, because he mustn't know about Yami. But at least, when he's gone, Yami could roam around the house..  
  
\\Don't use that word like that\\ Yami Bakura said through their mental link, \\You make me sound like an animal.\\  
  
\Sorry..\  
  
\\Better be\\ was his disgruntled reply. \\And when's your father leaving? I want OUT.\\  
  
\Um, this weekend, Yami\ replied Ryou.  
  
\\Good.\\ Pause. \\What will i 'NOT be happy' about?\\  
  
\Uh....\  
"NO FAIR!" yelled a voice from upstairs.  
  
"IT IS TOO FAIR!" another voice yelled.  
  
"IS NOT!"  
  
"IS TOO!"  
  
"IS NOT!"  
  
"IS TOO!"  
  
"NUH-UH!"  
  
"UH-HUH!"  
  
"NUH-UH!"  
  
"UH-HUH!"  
  
"NUH-UH!"  
  
"UH-HUH!"  
  
"NUH-UH!"  
  
"NUH-UH!"  
  
"UH-HUH!"  
  
"HAH!!!"  
  
"SHI---"  
  
"WILL THE BOTH OF YOU ~PLEASE~ THE HELL SHUT UP?!?! HONESTLY, I DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE TO PUT UP WITH THIS EVERY TIME WE MOVE!!!"  
The screaming stopped. Ryou sweatdropped.  
  
\\What the HELL was that about?!\\ Yami Bakura demanded.  
  
\We have houseguests\ Ryou mumbled.  
  
\\How old are they? Five years, or what?\\  
  
\Er.... The ones that were arguing, Rosz and Blu, i think, are about fourteen years old. I dunno. And the one that asked them to shut up was about my age.\  
  
\\And how long are the staying?\\  
  
\Erm, Dad said about a year and a month.\  
  
\\Good Ra....\\  
  
Ryou sighed. \Don't worry\ he said, \you can still come out when they're not around.\  
  
\\Hmph.\\  
  
  
Rosz came down the stairs, and jumped the last the three at the bottom with a thud. "Hey, sorry about the noise," she apologized.  
  
\\Who's the hell's that?\\ Yami Bakura asked.  
  
\Ambre Rosz\.  
  
  
"Uh, Earth to Bakura?"  
  
Ryou looked at Rosz, startled. "What is it?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing," Rosz said, shaking her head, "Just looked like you were soulless or something, 'cuz i guess you spaced out. Cool.. I didn't think anyone could do that."  
  
Ryou gave her a blank stare. "Do what?" he asked, a bit baffled.  
  
"Uh, you know, look soulless."   
  
"??"  
  
Rosz shrugged. "Nevermind," she said. She looked around, and asked, "Hey, where's the kitchen? Can i get something to eat?"  
  
Ryou nodded. "Sure. The kitchen's there," he added, pointing across living room, where the kitchen was sectioned off. As Rosz made her way, the white-haired girl came down the stairs quietly. Ryou didn't hear her until she said,   
  
"Where's your dad?"  
  
Ryou jumped, and turned around. She was staring at him impassively, her face with the expression like a rock. Ryou shifted; somehow, her eyes made him uneasy. "D-Dad's in the garage," he mumbled, slightly intimidated, "I guess he went out."  
  
Yuriko turned her head slightly to the direction of the kitchen. "Rosz is pigging out in your kitchen, isn't she?" she asked.  
  
"Hey! I heard and resent that!" was Rosz's yell. "Mainly because it's not true!"  
  
"May i go eat something as well? I'll make sure she doesn't clean out your kitchen," she said. Ryou chuckled, and said yes. The girl quietly walked into the kitchen.  
  
\\Who in the name of Ra is THAT?\\ asked Yami Bakura, staring at her intently.  
  
\Haqikah Yuriko..\  
  
\\....Interesting. Hikari, I'm taking over.\\  
  
Instantly, Ryou felt a winter, minty sensation wash over him; his yami had taken over. Now, Ryou found himself in his own soulroom. Knowing that his yami wouldn't give him back the control of his body until he was done, Ryou shrugged, and decided to do whatever he did in his soulroom in situations like these.  
  
Yami Bakura (who i will now refer to as Bakura, just to simplify things) watched Yuriko walk into the living room, holding a can of pop.  
"Haqikah."  
  
Yuriko looked at him. "I told you to call me by my first name," she said, slight irritation. Bakura narrowed his eyes at her: No one, and certainly not even some unknown girl, tells him what to do. But he had to pretend to act like Ryou.  
  
"Sorry," he said innocently, inwardly grimacing at said-word and tone. "Habit, you know."  
  
Yuriko nodded slightly. "Anything i can help you with?" she asked.  
  
"'Haqikah'.... that's a female Egyptian first name, meaning 'honest'. How did it become your surname?"  
  
Yuriko's eyes widened in slight surprise. "Oh? You know Egyptian?" That was more of a statement than a question.  
  
Bakura snorted. "Know it? I speak the language."  
  
Yuriko gasped really softly. "Well, excuse me," she muttered, "So do I."  
  
"I'm talking about the Ancient Egyptian language," Bakura said.  
  
"So am I," Yuriko retorted.  
  
Bakura arched an eyebrow. "~Right~," he said sarcastically, in the Ancient Egyptian tongue, "~You're probably refering to that poor excuse of a national language those modern-day Egyptians speak, which is Arabic, you know.~"  
  
"~I'm well aware of that,~" Yuriko replied fluently in the same language. "~Didn't you listen to Rosz? She mentioned we were bilingual.~"  
  
Yami Bakura started. "~How do you know that language?~" he demanded. "~That Ancient tongue has long ago died from modern knowledge! There is hardly anyone who speaks it that well.~" He narrowed his fierce chocolate-brown eyes in suspicion.  
  
"Well, my knowledge isn't modern," replied Yuriko in Japanese, matter-of-factly. "I was taught by my guardian's family, for family business---"  
  
She was cut off by a dark-haired girl, who was about as tall as she was. "Hey, Yuri-chan," she greeted cheerfully, who had just came from the kitchen. She hung her arm around her white-haired friend's--- Yuriko's, not Bakura's--- neck. "Are you telling some family history?" She smiled, but glanced a meaningful look at Yuriko, who gave a half-smile.  
  
"Of course, Rosz," she replied, "We can't remain strangers while we live together."  
  
'Rosz' nodded. She whispered something in Yuriko's ear before making her way upstairs. Bakura had heard her, but made no sign of it. However, he looked curiously after her.   
  
She had whispered softly to Yuriko: "You know the drill: Don't tell him too much!"  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
Just as Blu finished unpacking, Rosz entered the guestroom. It was a sunny-filled, spacious room, with a bunkbed in one corner, and another on the opposite side. There was an empty wooden desk between the two bunks. At the foot of each bed were oak-wood drawers (which had six drawers each), whose surface gleamed in the sunlight. On the other end of the room, there was a double door, which lead to a small, but spacious, square, walk-in closet.   
  
Blu closed her duffelbag, which had the Japanese characters (kanta?) for 'Umi no Tenshi'. Her stuff, which was not all of it, was on the lowerbed of on the bunk. The closets doors were wide open, and Blu threw her bag in there. Rosz stood by the door for a while, watching her shorter friend proceed to transfer her things into two drawers of one of the oak-wood drawers on the farthest-side of the room.  
((Authoress's Notes: Here's a VERY rough sketch of the room:  
______,___,______ {-- wall; the two commas there is the window  
|---|,,,,,,,,* +==| {-- '==' are the bunkbeds  
|__|,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,[| {-- '[' is the desk  
|,,,,,______+==| {-- '+' are the oak-wood drawers  
|_*| {---Doorway  
  
The comas "," take the place of space-marks. The '*' by the doorway is Rosz; the other '*' is Blu))  
Blu looked up at Rosz. "Guess you'll have to sleep at the bottom," she said, smiling sweetly.   
  
Yuriko had claimed the upperbed of the bunk on the opposite side of the window, and earlier, Rosz and Blu had quarreled loudly over the rights to the other upperbunk. Blu had won. Rosz then had shrugged, and said she planned for that to happen, so she could have the lower bunks mostly to herself. Blu knew better, though, and smirked very smugly, heavily annoying Rosz, who then went downstairs. Now she was back upstairs, and Blu's tone irked her.  
  
Rosz rolled her eyes and flopped onto one of the lowerbeds. She was done unpacking, and sighed in disgust. "Oh, shut it," she muttered. Then Rosz remembered something, and rolled over. Not looking at her best friend, she remarked, "You know, there's something with that Bakura."  
  
"Besides the fact that he has white hair for a Japanese teen, what of it? You find him cute?"  
  
Rosz made a face. "He could've bleached his hair. And, yeah, so what if he is?" Blu grinned wickedly at her. Rosz knew what was going on in her mind, and she blushed lightly. "I do not!" she groaned.  
  
"Suuuure you don't," Blu sang, "Sure you don't have a crush on him."  
  
"I don't," Rosz grumbled flatly. "He's just cute, a'right? Nothing wrong with that."  
  
Blu was still grinning. "You're gettng defensive," she commented, dodging a pillow thrown at her. But then her grin vanished, replaced by a more serious expression. "I thought the archeaologist didn't have a son."  
  
Rosz snapped her fingers. "I know. We were talking about that downstairs, when we were being introduced. I wonder where his mom is."  
  
Blu shrugged. "Work, trip, divorce, died, or walked out: Choose your pick," she stated.  
  
"But onto more important matters: Since our nighttrip to the musuem was all over the news, we can't go back there. Remember, they're expecting a huge catch of valuables back home. How else are we gonna bring in the goods?"  
  
Blu flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder, and then smacked her forehead. "Uh, rob homes, Rosz? Duh!"  
  
"Oh, yeh," Rosz said sheepishly.  
  
"And to think, you're an honor-student...."  
  
Rosz didn't take to this insult well.   
  
*Pow!*  
  
"Hey!" Blu said angrily, recovering quickly from the hit of the pillow that was thrown at her. She quickly retaliated, picking up the pillow and hurling it at Rosz's direction. The taller, yet a few months younger girl growled lightly, "That's it!"  
  
The two waged a full-out pillow fight. Or rather, pillow WAR.  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
Yuriko stared out the window, eyes narrowed. The archeaologist has a son? That means they won't truly have the house to themselves while the father is gone. No matter; it's poses no problem. The boy doesn't seem to be any harm.  
  
But then again, the keyword was SEEM. She knew better. Her instincts were yelling something about that boy, but she just couldn't place her finger on it. She could -sense- he was a pure, innocent soul, but then, she would sense something else, another presence, weaving into and out, being one, and yet seperate with the boy's soul. Not knowing what it was was so frustrating!  
  
Yuriko buried her head in her arms on the window sill. The boy, Bakura, was like a white-haired angel, but when she talked to him, he reminded her of a white-haired demon instead. (Don't ask; she makes a habit of comparing people to other things.)  
  
Speaking of white-hair.. Her hair was naturally white, with light, silver highlights that could only be glimpsed in the light of the sun or moonlight; preferably in the moonlight. She didn't know exactly why, or how, but her hair didn't shine under artificial light.  
  
Bakura's hair.. Is it natural? He's Japanese, and I've never seen a Japanese person with natural white hair, she thought. Bleached? Maybe he had dark-colored hair, but lived somewhere where his hair was heavily exposed to the sun, like Egypt or Saudi Arabia. But that doesn't explain his pale skin, though..  
  
But that doesn't matter....  
  
Yuriko jerked up, hearing yells and loud *thumps* upstairs. What the hell are those two up to? she thought, frowning.  
  
Something white streak past her. Yuriko saw it pause briefly, and saw a mane of white hair turning the corner. Bakura can run, she thought, running up to catch up with him.  
  
As he reached the stairs, Yuriko was already racing up them, jumping the last two steps none-to-gracefully. She skidded across the bare wood floor, and stopped at the door to the room where her friends were in. Hand on the doobknob, she turned it quietly, without making a sound. She found Bakura behind her, so she placed her finger on her lips, signaling him to remain silent.  
  
Yuriko pushed the door, opening it slightly, and slid into the room unnoticed. Bakura did the same. With Blu and Rosz fully occupied, Yuriko stepped into the open.  
  
Smoothly, she kicked the the door close with a loud slam. *BAM!!*  
  
Rosz and Blu froze.  
  
"Uh-oh," they murmured, hastily trying to hide the pillows behind them, while watching Yuriko scowl heavily at them. She surveyed the room, noting that all their clothes were scattered everywhere.   
  
"I want you to clean up this mess," she told them quietly, staring hard at them with her now bloodred-eyes. Her eyes shifted to Bakura for a split-second, but they focused on the two girls before her. "I would ground you, but there are things to be taken care of at the moment. Consider this as a warning." She strode out of the room, muttering, "What a disgrace you are to the family name."  
  
The two shocked girls slumped to the floor. "I thought she was gonna kill us," Blu breathed, eyes wide.  
  
"For sure," her friend agreed, still breathless from their fight. They look at each other, and then realized the presence of Bakura in their room.  
  
"Uhhh.. Yes?" they asked meekly.  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
Yami Bakura was still in control of the body he shared with his hikari, and found this whole, though small episode amusing. Figuring any action was over for now, he gave Ryou the control of the body.  
Ryou blinked in his soulroom. The next thing he knew, he was in the room his father had reserved from any guests that happened to come by, which such guests were rare. As far as he knew, he didn't have any family relations.  
  
"Uhhh.. Yes?"  
  
Ryou was brought back into the real world. Where was he again? Oh yes, in the guestroom.... He looked around with his chocolate-brown eyes, observing that the bedroom was turned upside-down.  
  
\Yami, what happened?\ he asked through their telepathic link.  
  
\\Ask the immature ones on the floor.\\ answered his dark-half. \\Obviously, they had some sort of fight with the pillows and clothes.\\  
  
That's when Ryou noticed the two slumped figures on the floor, looking at him expectantly. He ran his hand through his long, layered white hair and sighed. Instead of asking what happened, he ran through the memory of his Yami of the most recent events.  
  
\\Who said you could go through my memories?\\ Yami Bakura growled.  
  
\Sorry, Yami.\  
  
"Do you two need help unpacking?" he asked the girls politely. The girls nodded vigorously, and jumped up.  
  
"Yeah! We do!" they said. "Follow!" they added, running out of the run. Bakura followed them downstairs. He saw Rosz pause, taking a scarf and wrapping it around her neck, while Blu waited for her and him to catch up. They went the door.  
  
Rosz shivered at the sudden breeze blowing playfully in their faces. She made her way to a metallic-silver Ferrari. Ryou gaped as Rosz took out the carkeys to the vehicle, pressing the remote button to open it.  
  
"Is that yours?" Ryou asked, still gaping. Rosz looked over her shoulder, grinning. "Nope! It's Yuriko-chan's!"  
  
"How old is she?" Ryou knew relatively nothing about cars, except some information on Ferrari's.  
  
"The car, or Yuri?"  
  
Blu rolled her eyes, and opened the trunk of the car. "Yuri, stupid," she said. "Yuriko-chan's 16," she told Bakura.  
  
"But.." Ryou began.  
  
"Yeh, I know," Rosz interjected. "The legal age here is 18, but Yuriko got her license in the US. But, she had to have it specialized, since we were entering Japan as immigrants. The Ferrari was a present from my family."  
  
"I hope she remembers to drive on the -left- side of the road," Rosz sighed, picking up two boxes and handing it to Bakura. Blu took two, and she took two herself. Rosz locked the car. They went back inside, and up the stairs.  
  
The three set the boxes near the doors of the closet. "We can open them up later," said Blu, eyeing the still-messy room out from the corner of her eye. Rosz nodded.  
  
"Do you need help?" Ryou asked. The girls shrugged. "Just throw the clothes on the bed," Rosz replied, "And we'll do the rest."  
  
Ryou nodded, and helped pick up the various assortment of shirts and jeans, and an occasional skirt, on the floor. Meanwhile, Rosz was inspecting one of the boxes out of the corner of her eye while she was folding the clothes. Strange, she thought, I've never seen that box before. Then, Rosz shrugged. Might be a package from my 'rents (slang for 'parents') at home..  
  
After Ryou left to clean up his own bedroom, Rosz suddenly grinned at her friend and hastily tore (not literally, though) the box open. Her friend looked on curiously. Rosz took out a black-cased business suitcase. Blu turned to her with an interested look.  
  
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked. Rosz nodded.  
  
"Yep! I thought so. My Going-Away present from home!" she said happily. Rosz then peered into the box, and a smile lit up her face. "Hey, look! You got one, too! So did Yuri, for that matter."  
  
Blu took out her present. It was a suitcase much like Rosz's, but instead, it was silver. She grinned excitedly. "Hey, i wonder what we got!"  
  
"Probably something to help us out with our jobs."  
  
"Most likely," Blu agreed. "I mean, when was the last time they bought us something that had to do with our occupation?"  
  
Rosz pretended to think hard. "Uhm.... since never!" she exclaimed with feinted shock and surprise. The two girls burst out laughing.  
  
"So.." Rosz tried to calm herself down. "When are we gonna open these oh-so-kind presents?"  
  
"On our first school night," Blu announced, a sullen tone in her voice. Rosz looked at her, puzzled. "How do you know that?" she demanded. Blu waved something white in her face.  
  
"I found this letter in the box," she replied. Rosz read it:  
"To our Lovely little Trio---  
  
By now that you have already read this letter, you may have already been settling in your new abode. We meant to mail this to you sooner, but were delayed by your little 'slip' a the Musuem, which would've proven disasterous. {{Here, Rosz grimaced.}} We hope you succeeded in a'ttaining your targets.  
  
Along with this letter came your supplies for your next 'hunt'. DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOUR FIRST SCHOOL NIGHT. {{"Damn school..."}} We WILL know if you happen not to comply with our wishes. The cases are rigged with a satellite tracking chips, which will be activated once you open your gifts. But the wait will be worth it. You will enjoy the newest additions to your new supply kit. Have fun.  
  
We have no new exam missions for you yet to raise your current ranking. In the meanwhile, do want you can to acquire more jewels and such. Do NOT steal any hard cash, understand?  
  
Loving You Always,  
~Mom, Dad, & Family  
  
PS: We have been informed that you have been enrolled in the local schooling buildings. Rosz and Blu, you have been enrolled in Domino City Junior High School; Yuriko, you in Domino High. We expect you to EXCEL in school. Just because you're in a different country DOES NOT mean you can slack off this school year. You WILL NOT be excused from proper education. Have a fun time at school.  
  
Love you."  
Rosz raised her eyebrows. "'Have a fun time at school'?" she repeated in disbelief. "What are THEY on?--- OW!!! What the hell?!" She turned around angrily, and started. "Blu---"  
  
"What?" Blu asked innocently from the other side. "Wasn't me, yanno."  
  
"Then who---" Rosz looked up into Yuriko's red eyes. "Oh shit."  
  
Yuriko scowled. "Yanno, you're face is gonna be stuck like that if you don't stop," Rosz remarked, only causing her scowl to become more deeper. "Shut it," the older girl snapped.   
  
"My, is Yuri-chan lost for words?" Rosz teased. Yuriko growled, and flexed her fists experimentally. Her eyes narrowed.  
  
Blu murmured uneasily, "You're pushing it, Roszi. You're forgetting what she can do." Suddenly, Rosz apologetic, and grabbed Yuriko's arm, pulling her close. (Rosz: Just so we're on the same page.... there's NO YURI/SHOJO-AI in this fic. Thank you.)  
  
"Aw, sorry, Yuriko," she said, grinning. "Ya know it's hardly rare for you to be teased this easily. Something's up, so why duncha tell us?"  
  
The white-haired girl shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing, you two," she sighed. "It's stress, I guess. On top of our occupation, we now also have to worry about the last thing on our To-Do list: our school grades." Rosz and Blu glanced at each other, but said nothing. So Yuriko continued, "Anything from home?" Rosz and Blu nodded, and handed her the letter, who scanned it. "In the meantime, we'll follow their advice. Starting tonight."  
  
The younger girls jumped up. "What?!" they exclaimed in unison. "For real?!" Then they looked disappointed.  
  
"What's that look for?" Yuriko demanded sharply. Rosz sniffed, and said rather regretfully, "Mom and Dad gave us these wickedly cool gifts, but we can't open 'em til Monday night!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"It would make our jobs a hell lot easier."  
  
"'Easier'? How hard can that get? Honestly, you're going soft," Yuriko snorted.  
  
"Well, so~rry!" Rosz huffed. "Let's just prepare, okay? And what are we gonna tell Bakura?"  
  
Yuriko shrugged. "Say we're gonna fill out some paperwork," she replied carelessly. "Come on, we have work to do."  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
((7:30 pm; 9 hours later))  
  
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The houses on the quiet street stood side by side, while many of its occupants prepared for dinner. A cool breeze swept through the darkening night as, unknowingly, the houses were being watched by a normal-looking black Lexus, which was parked along many other cars on the street. One house in particular was being watched.  
  
Unbeknowst to the residents inside, and everyone else in the neighborhood for that matter, two silent figures scaled the east wall of the house, the darkest side of the house, opposite direction of the setting sun, which painted the sky a light pink against the white, cotton-candy clouds. From the Lexus, two eyes watched these two figures carefully as they disappeared into a window. The watcher spoke into a mouthpiece, which was attached to the earpiece on her left ear.  
  
"Progress?" she asked.  
  
"Ransacking master bedroom," one voice acknowledged. "No interuptions so far."  
  
"Booty?"  
  
"Funny-sounding slang, Sky," the other voice commented. "But we've come across some nice looking piece of jewelry. But you know what they say: 'What has 'bling' may not be the real thing'."  
  
"'Bling'?" questioned the first voice.  
  
"Slang for shiny-ness, i think, Fleur," the voice answered.  
  
"'Shiny-ness' s'not even a real word, Thorn," Fleur muttered.  
  
"More work, less talk," Sky, or Blu, as it was her new codename, chided. "Your time: Seven minutes. Start!"  
  
  
Fleur and Thorn, aka Yuriko and Rosz, nodded as they made their way around the room with penlights as their only source of light. The room's lighting was turned off, and turning it on might draw some attention, something they did not need. With gloved hands as usual, Rosz went through the drawers, careful not to put anything out of place. One of the signatures of a professional burglary was making sure not to leave any evidence of a break-in; it had to look like there wasn't one in the first place.   
  
Meanwhile, Yuriko went through the large walk-in closet on the opposite side in the window they had to entered, quickly scanning the room once. Without a second glance, the girl, who had her hair in a bun, hidden under a cap, made her way to the shoeboxes stacked in one corner of the room. She opened the boxes, and turned over each shoe. Each time, a piece of jewelry fell out. Why was she not surprised?  
  
"So predictable," she sighed, gathering her load in a stringed-backpack. "Oh well, makes the job easier for me." Yuriko walked out of the closet, just as Rosz finished closing the drawers of a vanity table. She, too, had gathered a load of jewelry in a sack, and now slung it over her shoulder. Just as they were about to exit the way they had entered, Rosz paused, before taking out a ziploc bag, which held a piece of paper.  
  
"Just what are you doing?" Yuriko said, a bit uneasily. Time's almost up..  
  
Rosz took out the piece of paper with a pair of tweezers. "A little teaser," she replied cheerfully, waving the paper with the pronged steel. Yuriko snatched at it by the corner, eyebrows furrowed. She read the short, but undeniably mocking message:  
  
"'Tenku beri much por ur donation of 'bling'. ~Not Urs Truli (No Da?)'."  
('Thank you very much for your donation of jewelry. ~You Sucker (Ya know?))  
  
Despite herself, she glanced at Rosz, who took it back and tucked it under a lamp on the vanity table. "Can't you spell?" she asked, amused, before slipping back into the night's welcoming shadows, Rosz following her.  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
Surprisingly, this only took three minutes and a half. After hitting a few more houses, they returned to Sky, unloaded their goods, and went back to work. Each trip took 10 minutes, on average, each time bringing back jewels from three houses. They stopped after an hour, around 8:30, and returned to their new 'home'. The Lexus wasn't theirs (it was Fern-san's), so they quickly transfered their stuff into the Ferrari before driving the car back to its owner to some disignated spot.  
Ryou was in the living room, reading some book he picked from his dad's small library in the basement for some school project. Something on the ruins of some civilization in the Amazon..  
  
The doorbell rang. Briefly he wondered who'd be visiting him at that late in the evening, but then remembered his guests, who went out to do some errands. He didn't give them keys to the house yet.   
  
Ryou sighed, and bookmarked the book, closed it, and opened the door. In stepped Blu, smiling a "hello"; Rosz, who grinned with sparkling eyes; and Yuriko, who had a small smile tugging at her lips, following them.  
  
Each looked particularly pleased over something.  
  
Ryou looked at them. "So, did you finish your business?"  
  
"Hm? What?" Yuriko glanced at him, a bit distracted. "Business? Oh, yeah, sure. We did." The other two girls echoed her after saying a cheerful 'Hello, Bakura!'.  
  
Ryou picked up his book and flipped to the page he was reading. "Uhm, are you going to be attending school during your stay?"  
  
"Daaaaaaa--- OOOW~!!!"  
  
Ryou jumped up, and looked in which the yell came from. He saw in time Rosz lose her footing, and slip down the steps. He walked to her, helping her up. Crap," he heard her mutter, "I forgot all 'bout that."  
  
Yuriko and Blu looked at her, and shook their heads.  
  
"Tita ChiChi was right: you are such a klutz," commented Blu with a sigh. "100%."  
  
"Er, 'Tita' who?" asked Ryou, puzzled.  
  
Rosz looked at him. "My mom," she said cheerfully. "We're Filipinos, see, and we call most adults 'Tita' or 'Tito', be they aunts, uncles, or family friends. Blu and Yuri call her 'Tita Chi-Chi'; 'ChiChi' is her nickname (her real name's MarieFe) among family and friends, just like my dad's nickname is 'YingYing', but they call him 'Tito YingYing'. Other adults are either 'Ninang' or 'Ninong', if they're godparents; 'Lola' or 'Lolo' if they're old seniors, like grandparents."  
  
Rosz started to babble more on terms like 'Ate`', meaning 'older sister', but was cut off by two sharp smacks to the head from Yuriko and Blu. "OOW! Dang it, what was that for?!" she demanded angrily.  
  
"Give Bakura's ears a rest," Yuriko ordered. "Besides, don't waste his time, because he's doing some research."  
  
"Oh?" Rosz peered at the thick, big book in his hand, and read the title, "'Ancient Civilizations of the World, and Their Culture'. Er, interesting, Bakura. Whatcha reading about?"  
  
"Civilizations in the Amazon," was his answer. "I have to write a report on one of them. It's due on Monday."  
  
"What's today again?" asked Blu, who was now at the top of the stairs, "Isn't Thursday?"  
  
"I s'pose," Rosz shrugged. "Why?"  
  
"Three days 'til our school days start."  
  
"Aww.."  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
"Um, are you all starting high school?" Ryou asked them.  
  
The girls looked at him, and Yuriko shook her head. "I'm the only one who's going to be in High School; I'm a sophmore. Rosz and Blu are still in Junior High. Since they're still thirteen, they were supposed to be in seventh grade, but instead, they're in eighth grade."  
  
"Oh. Well, I have to finish my work." Ryou sat back down on the couch, and became engrossed into the book.  
Once inside their room, Rosz and Blu flopped onto each lower bunkbeds. "Wasn't that fun?" Rosz exclaimed happily. "Wait 'til they discover my card!"  
  
"'Card'?" Blu raised her eyebrows. Rosz nodded her head, and pulled out a copy of the card from her pocket, and gave it to her lifelong best friend. Her friend read it, and grinned. "Cool!"  
  
  
~*~ ~*~  
  
Friday came and passed, their exploits were discovered, although they weren't deemed the culprits, much less the suspects. Since it was done in another neighborhood, more than ten blocks away, no one would think to look at the street they now resided on. The news were full of it:  
  
"Every single house on the street has reported robberies."  
  
"The most suspicious thing was that only the master bedroom had been stolen of all valuable jewelry."  
  
"It was a well-done job: None of the victims had realized they were robbed, until they began to look for a specific piece of jewelry. When they couldn't find it, they looked for their other belongings, only to find them missing!"  
  
"But the most strangest thing was that none of the victims had left their home the night of the robbery."  
  
"Investigators are wondering, Could this somehow be related to the robbery of the Elemental Jewels Collection at the Domino City Museum of History?"  
"How terrible!" exclaimed Mr. Bakura, shaking his head at the news airing on the radio at dinner. "I hope they catch those burglars before they steal anymore from innocent people. Right, kids?"  
  
"Yup," Rosz agreed seriously, as if fearing her own possessions would be stolen.  
  
"Definetely," added Blu with wide eyes, as if shocked as well.  
  
"I have a feeling they won't be stopping anytime soon," Yuriko murmured.  
  
"What makes you say that?" inquired Ryou's father.  
  
"After getting a big load of stolen goods in one night, do you think they'll actually stop?" Yuriko pointed out. "It's more likely they'll stop for a couple of nights, for unsuspecting would-be-victims to let down their guards. Then--- Bam! They'll hit again during dinner time."  
  
"Makes sense," commented Ryou. Within his soulroom, Yami Bakura nodded in approval. This girl really knew how a thief's mind worked. However, why would a thief hit at dinner time? he thought to himself. Ryou echoed his question aloud with, "But why dinner time?"  
  
Yuriko looked at him, studying him. Finally she said, "When the house is empty, the residents would've set on the alarm, something the thieves would have to mind. If the residents were home, having dinner, the security alarms wouldn't be on guard, and it would be easier for the thief."  
  
"And how did you come up with all this?" Mr. Bakura asked, an eyebrow arched. Yuriko just shrugged, saying, "It makes sense, doesn't it? It just so happens I have alot of common sense."  
  
The radio spoke again:  
  
"It's just been discovered that a note was found in one of the victim's house. Authorites have been puzzling over it's message, as they could not figure what it said. It apparently isn't Japanese, and it looks like it's in English, although it seems that the thief is quite illiterate.   
  
After much studying, it was found that the card read: 'Tenku beri much por ur donation of 'bling'. ~Not Urs Truli, No Da?'. In other words: 'Thank you very much for your donation of jewelry. ~You Sucker, Ya know?'. Apparently, the insult was not only aimed at the victims, but it obviously mocked and taunted the police investigation department. Talk about one bold, and humorous cat-burglar."  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
Rosz: Phew! Finally done! Sorry it took me two weeks longer than expected! (-_-) I couldn't post it up any sooner, because all week I was moving into my new apartment, and I was settling in. I didn't have access to the Net, so it gave me time to finish this. I'm actually starting on ch4, but it'll probably take me MUCH longer.   
  
(-___-++) Damn schoolwork! And for the first time in my entire academic life, I got a Progress Report. Only students who are failing a subject (which is actually a first for me!) get those kind of reports. And you wanna know what subject I'm failing?!  
  
Yuriko: She's currently failing English/Language Arts (ELA).  
  
Rosz: *rolls on the floor, clutching her head* ELA, OF ALL SUBJECTS!!!   
  
Yuriko: This is really bad news, because she just got a full scholarship for a school, and now she thinks that her teachers will think she's slacking off. (-,-;)  
  
Rosz: *still rolling* ARRRRGH! *stops, and sobs* (T-T) boo-hoo....  
  
Ryou: *walks in* (^^;) um, What's wrong, Rosz?  
  
Rosz: *sobbing* R-R-Ryou....  
  
Ryou: yes?  
  
Rosz: I'm failing ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS!  
  
Ryou: Don't feel bad; most of my classmates don't do well in that class.  
  
Rosz: Ryou, in your case, that's like failing Japanese Grammar.  
  
Ryou: Oh.... *gets his arm hugged by Rosz*  
  
Rosz: *sniff* Not good, not good at alllllll....  
  
Ryou: ^ ^;;;;;;  
  
Yuriko: Please help make my hikari feel better by reviewing. And by reading&reviewing her Clover(by CLAMP)/YGO fic, once she posts it up. 


	4. A Little Warning from Isis

The Art of Thievery  
by Rosz of the Angel  
  
Disclaimer: (T_T)  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
::Chapter Three::   
Warning  
Saturday came. Out of habit, Rosz woke up before any of the household at the ungodly, but normal hour of 7am. Sometimes she would've woken up at 8, but usually no later, as she could not go back to sleep after that. Knowing that the rest of the household was still asleep, she quietly slipped downstairs to get some breakfast, probably some dry cereal and milk.  
  
"I thought kids these days slept in," a voice remarked, making her jump. She whirled around, and found herself face-to-face with Mr. Bakura, dressed up casually in a pair of sturdy, comfortable dark-blue jeans, and a black turtleneck, with a khaki vest with many handy pockets. He donned a fisher hat, and had pulled his gray hair, which was like Ryou's, in a ponytail.  
  
"Oh, ohayou gozaimasu, Bakura-san! {Good Morning, Mr. Bakura!}" greeted Rosz. "Are you leaving already? Where is your dig going to be?"  
  
Mr. Bakura chuckled. "Yes, I'm leaving for another archeaology dig in Egypt. My plane takes off in about an hour, and the drive takes about fourty-five minutes. I would have woken up Ryou to say good-bye, but he looked so peaceful sleeping."  
  
"Do you need help putting your stuff in your vehicle?" Rosz asked. The father shook his head no, saying, "My colleagues are going to stop by; we're car-pooling," he explained. A beeping of a carhorn was heard outside, and he chuckled again. "Speak of the devil." He picked up his bags as Rosz opened the door for him. "Well, I'm sorry I couldn't stick around, and be a more hospitable host," he remarked regretfully once outside.  
  
"That's a'right," Rosz replied politely. Two of the three people inside the car stepped out, and began to walk up the porchsteps to Mr. Bakura.  
  
"Hey, Raoul, you ready?" one of them yelled.  
  
"About time you got here," he called back, handing each them one of his few bags.  
  
"Geez, ever hear of packing light?" the other joked. They laughed, except for Rosz, who was still putting on a smile. The first person, a brunette woman in her late thirties, turned to her.  
  
"And who might this little lady be?" she asked, grey-blue eyes twinkling. The other, a man in his early fourties with buzz-cut black hair, grinned, and handed her a hand.  
  
"Josh Sammuels. Nice to meet you," he said as they shook hands. The lady shook hands after him, introducing herself, "I'm Lina Fujiki."  
  
"I'm Rosz Ambre," said Rosz. "I'm staying with my friends here while my Japanese guardian is away."  
  
Fuijiki glanced at her watch. "Come on, Raoul! We might miss the plane," she said, as she and Josh walked down the steps and placing Bakura-san's bags in the trunk. Mr. Bakura followed them into the car, and waved good-bye.  
  
"Itterasshai! {Take care!}" Rosz called after the car. As soon as it was out of sight, Rosz went back inside and got herself some food. Then, she flopped onto the couch, turned on the TV, and watched her morning anime shows.  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
A few hours passed, and slowly, one by one, the remaining occupants in the house woke up: first Ryou, then Yuriko, and finally Blu.   
  
In the afternoon, they went downtown (in Yuriko's Ferrari), not only to the local uniform store, getting Yuriko her Domino High School uniform, and the Domino Junior High uniform, which was somewhat similar to the High School uniform, for Blu and Rosz, but also to explore the city. After picking up their uniforms, the girls admitted to liking them, although not it's girlish light-pink and cornflower-blue color. They continued to get some school supplies.  
  
Afterwards, they got themselves some pizza, and resumed exploring. In passing by a large bookstore, Rosz demanded they stop, and once inside, she quickly got herself the weekly issue of "Shonen Jump!". ((^_^; Gomen. Couldn't help myself.)) They drove by movie theaters, the city park, department stores, KaibaLand, more stores, and the Domino City Museum of Art.  
  
Not having much to do, the quartet decided to check out the Art Museum. Ryou had been there a couple of times in the past year for projects and other reports, so the girls were eager (more or less in Blu's case) to go there. While they got to see the most important and priceless pieces of the Museum, Yuriko made a mental hit-list, should they ever decide to visit this place again at night. (Surprise, surprise. Killing two birds with one stone.)  
  
More than a couple of times, Rosz saw pictures of wierd-looking pictures of some sort of card game, including this wizard-looking guy in a purple robe and lop-sided, cone-shaped hat. As they passed by a large game shop, curiousity won over Rosz, and she suggested they go inside, because she "had to get something of curiousity", and thought she "could find it in there".  
  
Yuriko and Blu had no interest in it, and didn't want to stop, so Ryou offered to take her there. Rosz agreed, and they were dropped off, and were now standing in front of the large game shop. They didn't want to stay in the cold.  
  
So they entered the Kame Game Shop.  
  
Rosz saw more of those interesting figures of that card game. She was most attracted to the cards with holographic backgrounds, but also liked the pretty, but useful cards, like the "Queen's Double". She especially liked a green-color card with the picture of a girl holding a heart. One half of her was in darkness, and had a clawed wing; the other half was in light, and had an angel wing. It was behind a glass case, and Rosz turned her head, to see if she was the only one present in the aisle. Taking advantage of this, she proceeded to press her hands and face against the only barrier between them.  
  
"Pretty.." Furthermore, she noticed it was labeled 'First Edition', and thought it would be nice to have one. Seeing the cost was in yen, she took out the same amount, in American dollars, which was $15.00. She sighed, and quickly pocketed her money.  
  
"Oh ho ho~!"  
  
Rosz turned around, only to find a gray-haired man, shorter than her by a bit more than a head. Whoa, someone shorter than Blu, and older! she thought.  
  
"Welcome, miss, to the Kame Game Shop! Glad to have you here," the old man said. "I see you have a card in interest, ne? {right?}"  
  
"Huh?" She glanced at the card.  
  
"So, do you wish to buy it?" asked the man. "It would be wise to buy it, because usually this card is worth double! Maybe even triple, since it's a First Edition, holographic card! Or, maybe you would like to take a look at some of the other cards on sale? I would be delighted to show you. Perhaps, you're looking for rare cards on sale as well? We have those as well. Plus, we just got a new shipment of cards! Would you like to take a look?"  
  
"Ah, w-wait one moment, s-sir," stuttered Rosz, a bit surprised at the energy of the senior. She speed down the aisle without another word to find Ryou, from whom she seperated from. In her haste, she bumped--- actually, it was more like smacked--- right into someone. "Oh, oooww..." she moaned, holding up her head. Her head was spinning, and groped for the hand offered to her. She was pulled up. "Oh, I'm so sorry---"  
  
"Rosz, are you alright?" asked a familiar voice. Her vision cleared, and saw it was none other than Ryou. "Wha~! Bakura, there's this weird old geezer who was bombarding me with questions!" Rosz blurted out.  
  
"'Old geezer'?" Ryou repeated, thinking he probably knew the man she was talking about.  
  
"Yeh! The old geezer's about this short---" she held up her hand at her other mid-upper arm, "--- got some wrinkles (okay, maybe just a few..)---" she stretched her cheeks, "--- got gray-haired pointy bangs---" she pulled two strands of hairs down, "--- and really old-looking!" She took a breath, and added, "He had the most purplest eyes I've ever seen, too."  
  
~*~  
  
\\'Old geezer'?\\ Yami Bakura repeated, amused. \\Surely she must mean the old fool of a Grandpa of the Pharaoh.\\  
  
\Yami!\  
  
\\What?\\ his Yami asked innocently, \\You always did tell me to be honest. And I'm just stating the truth.\\  
  
~*~  
  
Ryou coughed as the same old man who scared Rosz witless walked down the aisle, a card in hand. She yelped, and hid behind the gentle boy.  
  
"Oh, ho! Bakura!" The old man strode toward him as the boy bowed, much to Rosz's silent protests. "What brings you here?"  
  
Ryou straightened up. "Konnichiwa, Mutoh-san {Hello, Mr. Mutoh}," he said in his soft voice. "I'm just here with a couple of guests."  
  
"Ah, Bakura, I told you not to call me Mutoh!" the older man chuckled. "You make me feel older than I already am. At least call me by my first name."  
  
"Yessir, Sugoroku-san."  
  
"So.." Sugoroku saw someone shaking behind Ryou. "Eh?"  
  
Rosz poked her head from behind, eyes wide, and gulp. "I-It's him, Bakura.." she whispered in English, "The old geezer.." Suddenly, she clapped her hands over her mouth, remembering that the senior before her might understand English.  
  
The old man looked at her. "What did she say?" he asked Bakura in Japanese, who coughed again.  
  
Rosz sighed in relief; so he couldn't speak English! Or perhaps, he couldn't understand slangs like 'geezer', but that's beside the point.  
  
"Uhm," she began nervously in Japanese, "I'm Ambre, a guest of Bakura's. I, er, went to look for him on regards about that card. To see if it was really a bargain. Right, Bakura?" she added, elbowing him meaningfully.  
  
"Huh?" Bakura looked at her. "Oh, yes, right.."  
  
"Well, missy," Sugoroku said, closing his eyes and waving his forefinger like the wise man he is ((I think...*sweatdrop*)), "No need to fear. This is the best bargain you can get. And since you're a friend of Bakura's, you'll get a further discount. How 'bout that?"  
  
"So how much would I have to pay then?" Rosz asked cautiously, walking forward to stand beside Bakura. Being the thief she was, she didn't like paying more than she needed to, and tried to lower the price when she could.  
  
"Hm," Sugoroku said, resting his chin on the web of skin between his thumb and forefinger, "About (insert amount of) yen." ((Rosz: He-heh..sorry, dunno what's the equivelant of $10.00 in yen..))  
  
"Oh," she said, rather dejectedly, "I don't have any yen with me; only American money. Can I pay you in that?" she asked, brightening a bit.  
  
Sugoroku scratched his head. "I suppose," he said finally.  
  
Rosz took out a roll of single American dollars, and sorted through them, counting. Her lips were pressed against a thin line, and then she looked up. "I'm afraid I won't be able to buy that card," she said quietly. "I'm about a dollar short."  
  
"Oh? Well, what a pity," Sugoroku sighed.  
  
"Um, can I ask a favor sir?"  
  
"What do you have in mind?"  
  
"Can I pay what I have now? I'll pay you the rest back again. And don't worry about me going back on my word," she added. "I'm going to school here---" she made a quick face, and continued, "--- and I'm sure I'll be returning here."  
  
Sugoroku nodded, and handed her the card. "Yes, that would be fine. I'm sure Bakura here will see to that, right m'boy?" Bakura nodded as they made their way to the cashier. Sugoroku winked, "Make sure you come back, hear?" Rosz nodded as he walked away, desired card in hand.  
  
A boy with the weirdest, and most radical hairstyle Rosz had ever saw was at the counter. He had black hair fanned up and out, set against a line of crimson. His gold-blonde spiky bangs hung over his amethyst-purple eyes, framing his face.  
  
The boy looked no more older than around the age of eleven, given his innocent face. Strange, though, were his clothes: He had something like a belt dog-collar around his neck, and an open blue jacket with belt-like straps, with an all-black T-shirt underneath. And what hung from an iron chain around his neck was what looked like a gold pyramid, hanging upside-down. On it was an Egyptian-style eye; Rosz recognized it as the Eye of Horus.. or was it the Eye of Ra? Whatever, they looked just about the same.  
  
But what really caught her eye was the fact that it looked like it was made of solid gold.   
  
..SOLID GOLD.  
  
How much would that fetch on the black market? she wondered to herself.  
  
"Oh, hey Ryou!" the boy said cheerfully. "How's it going? Are you here to buy something?"  
  
"Hi, Yuugi," replied Ryou. "Everything's fine. No, I'm not buying anything. Rosz is though."  
  
The boy just seemed to take notice of the girl. "Who?" he asked. Rosz swallowed her shyness.  
  
"Me!" Rosz piped up, smiling. "I'm Rosz Ambre, a guest of Bakura's. Nice ta meet 'cha."  
  
"Nice to meet you, too," he replied. "I'm Yuugi Mutoh, Ryou-kun's classmate."  
  
"Classmate? Ah.." For real? Rosz thought about it for a split-second, with a couple of possible explanations: a) He's a genius or something, 'cause he looks younger than 16, or b) he really is 16, but just really, really short.. "So maybe you'll be seeing my friend," Rosz said, tilting her head slightly. "Trust me, even if you're in different classes, it's pretty hard not to miss her."  
  
"How so?"  
  
Rosz grinned. "You'll see," she said, "You'll be seein' her a coupl' times, since we's housin' with Bakura. Anyways, about my purchase.." She explained to Yuugi the agreement between her and the senior. "See, this senior man said I could pay him in American cash, and then I could pay 'im back later."  
  
"'Senior man'?" asked Yuugi, confused. Then his face lit up in understanding. "Oh, you must mean my grandpa!" Rosz nodded. Yuugi tapped a few buttons on the cash register. "You'll be paying in American cash, right? So that'll be.. $9.00."  
  
"Um, yeh," she said, paying for the card. Once the money transaction was done, she pocketed the card, glancing at the smiling, shimmering picture once more. "Thank you!" she called as she exited the store, Bakura behind her.  
Rosz shivered as she once stepped outside. "So, where to now?" she asked her host.  
  
"It's a Saturday, and I sometimes stay home.."  
  
"You stay home? On a Saturday? Don't you do anything else?"  
  
"Not exactly," he admitted. Rosz shrugged, and started to walk in one direction. "Hey, where are you going?"  
  
"No idea," she answered cheerfully. "Just wandering around." She paused in mid-step, and smacked her forehead. "Aw, cripes!"  
  
Bakura stopped walked. "What's wrong?"  
  
Rosz smacked her fist into the palm of her hand. "I have no way of contacting Yuri and Blu!" she exclaimed. A frown crossed her face. "And they're probably planning some more fun-filled, night-stuff without me!"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
Rosz mentally smacked herself for her slip, and racketed her brains for a suitable excuse. What rhymes with 'night'?! "Uhm, I mean.. Wait," she scratched her head. "What did I say again?"  
  
"*sweatdrop* You said, 'fun-filled, night-stuff'."  
  
"No, I'm pretty sure I didn't."  
  
Ryou looked at her, confused. "But I just heard you.."  
  
". . . ."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Okay, maybe I DID say that, but what I meant to say was gonna be something along the lines of--" So much for stalling, Rosz thought, racketing her poor brain once again. Got it! "--Uhm, durn it, I forgot," she laughed, scratching the back of her head. "Wierd, huh?" Ryou nodded, and then remembered something.  
  
"Hey, Rosz?"  
  
"Yeh?"  
  
"What was that card you bought again, at the Kame Game Shop?"  
  
"Hmm? You mean this?" Rosz took out the card from her coat pocket, and handed it to Bakura. "Was it really a bargain?"  
  
Ryou inspected it; the card, encased in a protective, transparent sleeve, had the words '1st Edition' beneath the picture. Its glossy surface shined against the sunlight as its holographic picture shimmered underneath. Familiar, almost hypnotic eyes stared at him, as a slight smirk graced its innocent-like face. Lightly dulled, gold-blonde hair framed her slender face, as she held a heart out. Half of her was in a bright-colored surrounding, donning one angel wing; her other side donned a demonic, bat-like wing, as it was slightly colored with a purplish-dark hue.  
  
"The Change of Heart," he whispered, eyes-wide.  
  
"'Change of Heart'?" the girl repeated, both eyebrows raised ((She couldn't arch an eyebrow alone; neither can I)). She peered at the top of the card; Japanese characters said just that. "Well, what'd ya know," she giggled, feeling a bit dumb, "They have names! So, was it a bargain, or not?" she asked, hands in her warm pockets.  
  
Ryou slid out the card out from its protective sleeve, and traced his forefinger over the silver-color-lined Japanese characters. He held it up to the light as he stared at it. Finally, after scrutinizing it, he slid the card back it, and held it out to her. "Some bargain," he said softly, "You're really lucky. The Change of Heart is a rare card; a holographic, first edition one is more rare, especially if it's in top-condition."  
  
Rosz sucked her breath it in a tiny gasp. ((She could've whistled, if only she knew how to... I can't whistle, period. ^_~;;)) "Whoa, and I got it at nine American-dollars!" she exclaimed. "My lucky stars (although I have no idea what/who they are) are definitely shining on me!" She flashed him a V-for-Victory sign. And those acting-lessons Aunti Jane forced me to take really paid off..  
  
Rosz snapped her fingers. "I know!" she exclaimed. "Let's go to the Domino City Museum of History!"  
  
Although she had visited the Museum that one time, it was only that Wing, where the Elementals were kept, she had seen. Yuriko didn't like to waste any time, so she worked right away on the security camera. But now, as she was playing 'innocent civilian-tourist-who-is-NOT-a-thief', she had more time to check it out.   
  
At first, she really wasn't interested. As a beginning otaku {an Anime/Manga fanatic}, she had other things to worry about at home, like finding new mangas, and above all, getting satisfactory grades. In her case, that would be getting AT LEAST 96% and up. Unfortunately, she didn't always hit this mark (at least, with Math, she got nearly always got 100%), especially with Social Studies and ELA projects. Grr, and she thought that this trip would excuse her from the seriously unwanted, HATED education.  
  
(Someone up there hates me! she wailed to herself in remembrance.)  
  
Until, of course, she learned the name of a certain museum curator: Ishtar, head of the Egyptian Wing exhibit.  
  
Ishtar. Rosz smiled to herself. It was the name of the family that always tried to.. curse ~her~ family. Although she knew almost nothing about them, besides the name, her uncle had told her a very short story about them when she was really really little. Her inner smile grew broader.   
Knowledge of the Ishtar family was strictly top-secret, classified information. Her uncle knew this, of course, but given her young age, he just thought she would forget about it the next day, since it was really short. Unfortunately, he was a great storyteller, and when he told her the tale of the Ishtars, he told it in such great detail, it was forever locked away in her memories, short or not.  
  
She was told that the Ishtar family had protected a certain an Ancient Egyptian Pharoah's tombs--- whose it was, she never learned. They protected the tombs generation after generation, "until the day the Pharoah returned". They dealt in magic, and it was rumored they were holders of two powerful mystical items, out of a total set of seven, called Sennen Items, or something-- he didn't go into detail with that.  
  
Anyhow, a branch of her family had lived in Egypt (they came as merchants, but seeked those royal riches), and time after time, they tried to raid those sacred grounds. The magic that protected and booby-trapped those grounds made it a real challenge to get through. Eventually, some did make it past, and take off with minor victories. However, the more major ones were harder to get to, and definitely life-threatening.  
  
At that, her uncle proudfully boasted that it was that branch that caused the most trouble to the Ishtars for five millenias.  
  
End of story. But, it wasn't the end of Rosz's deep interest. Ever with the help of Yuriko and Blu, she STILL didn't have enough information to satisfy her curiousity. Not that it ever was, anyway.  
  
And here was the perfect chance to find out more about them, Rosz thought, as she gazed up at the Museum of History before her. While reliving her memory, Ryou had led her to the museum, Rosz subconsciously following him.  
  
"Oh, here already?" Bakura nodded as they climbed up the stairs.  
  
A cool breeze swept past them as they stepped inside. "Do we have to pay an admission?" Rosz asked.  
  
"No, I don't think you do," he answered. "So, where do you want to go first?"  
  
"The Ancient Egyptian Exhibit," Rosz replied promptly. This brought a slight interest from Yami Bakura from within his soulroom. ((What, you think I forgot about him?!)) But that feeling passed quickly; he had already visited that museum a few times before. Besides, he HATED being watched by the Holder of the Sennen Tauk. Although he couldn't see ~her~, he always felt her presence, thanks to the Ring.  
  
"So, here we are!" Rosz exclaimed as the two (three, actually, but the spirit of the Ring didn't count, as he wasn't in physical form) walked through the corridor leading to the Ancient Egyptian Exhibit.  
  
"Oh, wow.." Rosz breathed as she passed by displays, pausing at others to read the name plates and descriptions. She stopped at one particular case, and gently traced the name plate, in which the title of the piece was engraved. "'Majikku no Tsuki'," she read, eyeing the jewelry within. It was, indeed, an eye-catcher.  
  
It was a pendant of a white metal, which a light, mettallic grey ((grAy?)) crystal lay embedded in a thin sheet of that same white metal. It was bordered by a intricate pattern of the twists and turns of metal strands, and super-mini hieroglyhpics that seemed to glow decorated the crystal. The necklace revolved on a stand, and caught beams of light from nearby lightbulbs, making the light dance across its smooth surface.  
  
Ryou stood next to her. Strange, he had never seen this piece of jewelry before. He shrugged it off; probably it was just shipped in last week, and besides, when was that last time he came here? One month? Two?  
  
Rosz continued, "'Also known as Magic of the Moon, or Moon Magic. Made by an unknown metal. Found in Egypt by Archeaologist Raoul Bakura'." She looked at her housemate, who began to read the plate with her. "Hey, it's your dad!" she exclaimed before reading further. "'Believed to be made 5,000 years ago. No known information on its history. However, there was a vague local legend that came with it, once found. It was said it once belonged to a wife of a high noble, suspected of being a mortal vessel to the powers of the Egyptian Moon God, Khonsu. Nothing else is known'."  
  
She ended there, seeing there was nothing after that, a look of disappointment of her face. "That's it?" she asked incredulously. "It doesn't say anything about the descriptions on the crystal!"  
  
"What descriptions?" asked Ryou, looking at her strangely. There was nothing written on the crystal as far as he could see.  
  
Rosz stared at him. "You---" she broke off, shaking her head. "Forget it, i-it must be the light playing tricks on my eyes," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. "I did sleep pretty late last night, and woke up at 7am this morning."  
  
Inside, she was getting freaked out. Rosz knew that seeing things other people didn't was SO not a good sign. She saw those hieroglyphics, and it CERTAINLY WAS NOT the light playing tricks. She saw those signs saw as plain as day. Maybe Ryou's joking...? No. Rosz had this uncanny ability to read faces, and he definitely wasn't lying. So why was she the only one who could see it?  
  
Steelly determination made a surprising entrance within her. She ~will~ find out. Meaning, she was going to do research, and find out what those writings said. And in order to do ~that~.... I believe a trip here, Rosz thought, grinning mischiveously, is in order.  
  
~*~  
"Uh, Rosz?" Ryou was looking at her, concern in his voice. Out of nowhere, that grin--- which unnervingly reminded him of his Yami's--- lit up her face. She said she saw signs on that pendant, but he sure didn't. It looked completely normal as normal Ancient Egyptian jewelry goes--- but then again, his Ring looked normal as Ancient Egyptian jewelry goes. Maybe there was something.. magical about that necklace.  
  
~*~  
  
\\There is.\\  
  
\Huh?\  
  
His yami growled in frustration. \\Hikari, can't you sense that jewelry's damn aura?\\ he demanded.  
  
\Aura?\ Ryou asked. Now that he thought about it, he ~did~ see some sort of silver line surrounding the entire necklace, pendant and chain.  
  
\\Yes, aura,\\ Yami Bakura snapped. \\That jewelry--- the Majikuu no Tsuki--- has magical properties. What those properties are will remain a secret.\\   
  
Ryou sighed and smiled. His yami just as good as told him that he didn't know himself what those powers were. \I assume you will not try to steal it?\ he asked.  
  
He felt his yami grin. \\Once a tombraider, always one,\\ he replied. But that grin quickly faded, and was replaced by a scowl. \\Of course I wouldn't try to steal it\\ he said. \\Not with that Ishtar watching the exhibit like a hawk.\\  
  
\And even if you could\ Ryou sighed mentally \I wouldn't want you to.\  
  
\\And since when has that stopped me?\\ Amusement rolled through their link like winds billowing of the sand dunes of Egypt.  
  
\Yaaammmiiiiii!\  
  
\\Stop whining, little one\\ Yami Bakura said, \\You should now be minding more.. important matters. Your mortal friend looks like she's debating on whether to call for help..\\  
  
\NANI?!\ {WHAT?!}  
Ryou snapped back to the real world, only to find a pair of dark-brown eyes that was almost black staring at him. "WHA--" he yelped in surprised, falling back, and scrambling.  
  
His companion quickly jumped toward him, and covered his mouth. "Shush!" she whispered, her eyes averting around. She sighed in relief. "Good, no one was around to hear you scream." She stepped back, and had a puzzled look on her face. "What happened?" she asked, "Did you space out? ~Do~ you space out?"  
  
Ryou ran his fingers through his soft, layered-clumps of white hair. "Yes, I do," he admitted, "though not frequently."  
  
"Hm. That makes it twice in one day," commented Rosz. She held up two fingers. "One the other day, when I said you looked 'soulless', and today. Careful," she teased, "you might get stuck in whatever world you're in, and someone else might possess your body!" She waved her arms to empathsize her point.  
  
Ryou flinched slightly. Although she didn't know it, her statement was surprisingly accurate.  
  
They continued to explore the exhibit. Rosz was fascinated by the sculptures and vases and such, but she loved the jewelry even more. Although some were worn with age, they still held that old beauty they held all those thousands of years ago.  
  
Then they came to the corridor that held slabs of stone behind glass barriers in the walls, with written hieroglyphics on them. Rosz stared intently at each one, murmuring something under her breath.  
  
"What are you saying?" Ryou asked her. Rosz signalled him to come closer, so he bent down slightly, so he was eye-level with the younger girl.  
  
"If I tell you," Rosz whispered into his ear, "you promise not to tell anyone else?"  
  
Ryou nodded and smiled. "If it's a secret, it'll remain one."  
  
"Well, you already know that Yuriko can speak the ancient tongue of the Egyptians, right?"  
  
Ryou's eyes widen, but nodded anyway.  
  
"Well, so can I. I can read those hieroglyphics, too, though it's kinda hard. I haven't practiced in a long while."  
  
~*~  
  
Yami Bakura was listening with interest from his soulroom, and nearly lost his balance.  
  
["..I can read those hieroglyphics, too, though it's kinda hard.."]  
  
She can ~WHAT~?!  
  
How in Ra's name could two mortal girls come to know the language of Ancient Egypt? Yami Bakura thought to himself. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't angry in the least bit. Just.. intrigued. Really really interested.  
  
Yami Bakura felt his hikari look at the girl in wonder. [["How, though?"]] Ryou asked the girl.  
  
["Family knowledge,"] was her simple reply.  
  
[["Oh? Then that would mean that you've had ancestors that lived in Ancient Egypt, right?"]]   
  
Through Ryou's eyes, Yami Bakura notice Rosz wince slightly. ["Uhh, yeh. Something like that.."] she murmured, fingering a strand of her dark-brown hair. ["My family has always kept a well-written family bible since my oldest known ancestor started the family business. The farthest I've ever learnt was about, oh.."] Rosz paused. ["I'd say about a good 3,000 to 5,000 years ago."]  
  
Subconsiously, Ryou placed his hand over his shirt to where his Ring was. Rosz didn't notice this, as she was looking at the slab of stone intently. ["I can't quite read what these say, however,"] she sighed, resting her right hand on the glass. ["And the only book that helps me translate them is.. Unreachable."] A secret smile touched her lips, one that only Yami Bakura noticed.  
  
He sensed a double meaning behind her words. So, he temporarily took over his hikari's mouth.  
  
[["Can you still speak the language?"]]  
  
["Huh?]  
  
[["The ancient Egyptian tongue,"]] Ryou (not Yami Bakura) explained patiently.  
  
["Oh, yeh,"] Rosz replied sheepishly. ["~Uhm, I'm a bit rusty. but I don't think you'd understand me anyway..~"] This was said more to herself than to Ryou.  
  
[["~Actually, I understood you quite perfectly,~"]] Ryou said in the same tongue with a smile, at a now-gaping Rosz. Yami Bakura snorted: He had overheard that Pharaoh no Baka was teaching his aibou other tongues he had known, not only including Ancient Egyptian, but also Latin, Arabic, and some Roman. Not to be outdone, Bakura had also taught Ryou all the languages he knew.  
  
Of course, not as in pupil-teacher sense. Yami Bakura didn't have the time, nor patience (especially patience!), so he simply just transfered (actually, it was like copying and pasting data on a computer) his memories on those languages to his hikari's memory.  
  
["W-what? Bu-But-- no, how--"] she sputtered, slipping back into Japanese, looking quite taken-aback.  
  
Ryou stared at her, puzzled. [["I know it's not---"]] he broke off when someone caught his eye. [["Oh! Isis-san!"]]  
  
Yami Bakura scowled as the Egyptian woman walked over.  
  
[[["Hello, Bakura-san,"]]] she greeted. She turned her attention to the younger girl. [[["And who is this unknown one?"]]]  
  
Didn't your Tauk foresee her? Yami Bakura sneered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.  
  
["Ambre Rosz, ma'am,"] was her reply. ["I'm a guest of Bakura's."]  
  
Isis Ishtar looked at the girl, and smiled. [[["How nice,"]]] she commented. To Ryou, she looked into his eyes, and raised and eyebrow. Yami Bakura had a feeling that she was looking though Ryou's eyes and looking at ~him~ as well. For some unknown reason, especially to these authoress, Yami Bakura felt like sweatdropping.  
  
Of course, yamis didn't sweatdrop.. Yami Bakura thought about a certain pharaoh, and amended that thought: Certain EVIL yamis didn't sweatdrop.  
  
[[["Ambre?"]]]  
  
Rosz was looking at the slab of stone again, and tore her eyes away. ["Hm? Yes, Ishtar-san?"]   
  
The yami of the Ring saw Isis watch the girl carefully. Finally, she said,   
  
[[["Little Kaywatan. You carry on the acts of the very ancestors that have plagued my family like no other, not just for your families' sake, but also so to test your limits. But how far will you go, before you plunge into the very world you were hidden from, but destined to enter? A world of, not only deception, but of also Shadows and Magic? Beware, and take caution. It will lead you far.."]]]  
  
Isis nodded to Ryou, before she walked away calmly, leaving two confused Bakuras, and one spooked Rosz, who stared after her, mouth open.  
  
~*~  
~*~|~*~  
~*~|~*~|~*~  
~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~  
~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~ ~*~  
  
Rosz: O_o Tell me again, how long did I say I'd finish this chapter?  
  
Yuriko: I believe you said by the end of the month of February.  
  
Rosz: Oh. *sigh* See how long it takes me to update? More than a whole freakin' month! Of course, I'm only an amatuer authoress, and had to deal with homework, and writers' block. So, my next chapter will probably be up around the end of March.. Jeez, if I ever decide to be a authoress/manga creator, I have no idea how I'd deal with the deadlines..  
  
Yuriko: Rosz, hurry up! You still needa finish your Social Studies report before you go to Maryland!  
  
Rosz: *snaps fingers* That's right! I'm on Mid-Winter break right now. ^_^ !!! Damn it, I better polish up my report..  
  
Yuriko: ..And your Math..  
  
Rosz: @___@ Aw, shit. I left that at school! .....O_________O Bloody hell.  
  
Yuriko: ~_~ You better hope one of your friends send you the work via email. You won't be comin' home 'til Sunday.  
  
Rosz: ....T_T Crap. *stalks off*  
  
Yuriko: -_-; Oh, and for those who speak Japanese and dunno what 'kaywatan' means.. Of course you wouldn't know. It's not Japanese. It's Philippino. You'll find out what it means next chapter..  
  
((Rosz: Oh, and thank you all for reviewing my fic, when it was original, and then revised!!! *sniff* You have no idea how much this means to me.. Arigatou to:  
  
Black K ~ You liked the old version better? Well, I'll try to fit in similar scenes. I had to revise it because I felt the old one was two.. Flat. Not good enough. ^_^ Yep, Yami Bakura's gonna show up in the next chappie, but.. it's probably gonna be a good chapter or two til the girls discover Yami B..  
  
{Yami Bakura: T_T++ STOP CALLING ME THAT, MORTAL!}  
  
*dodges inanimate objects being thrown at her by said-yami* ..^_-  
  
Millenia Star ~ Wah, I wish I could update the next day, or within a week, but, I have trouble with chapters that never seem to end..  
  
Seto-Kaiba-Fan ~ ^_^ Thank you.  
  
Wolf of Avalon ~ Yep, eventually this'll be Yami B/OC *sidelong glance at muse* ^.~, but first, I have to think of a way for the three girls to discover Yami Bakura..  
  
Wolves of the Night ~ Yeh, I'll keep writing.. ^_^; It'll take me time, but eventually I WILL succeed in updating a new chapter.. hey, you continue your HP/YGO fic, too, 'kay?))  
  
Review! 


	5. To School We Go , Part I

The Art of Thievery  
by Rosz of the Angel  
  
Disclaimer: *monotonous voice* refer to earlier chpters. thank you for your cooperation.  
  
(PS: I'll be using the character's Japanese names, 'kay?  
Yugi Mutou-- Yuugi Mutou  
Joseph (Joey) Wheeler-- Katsuya Jonouchi  
Tea` Gardener-- Anzu Mazaki  
Tristan Taylor-- Hiroto Honda)  
*sigh* I've finally accepted that 'Katsuya' is Jou's first name. I have been convinced otherwise for a long time, until I read the first vol. of Shonen Jump. Don't rub it in.  
((PSS: Blu's not quite a real name, huh? Well, I'm gonna change the spelling of her name to 'Bleu'. But it's still pronounced as 'blue'. ^_^))  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
::Chapter Four::   
To School We Go.. (-_-;)  
  
.  
.  
((Monday))  
  
.  
Ah, warm..  
  
Hey, what's this? Where am I? *Looks around, and sees the walls covered with priceless works of art* The Domino City Musuem of Art? ..Ooh, pretty..  
  
*Notices a rustle of movement by the corner of her eyes* What--? *Sees a red-eyed boy with purple hair garbed in black, silently taking out the artworks down, one by one* *Mumbles to self* (o_o) No way, that's Dark, from D.N.Angel! Hey, is he motioning to me..?  
  
*Walks towards him, and notices something* Why am I in my work clothes..? ((Her "work" clothes is the outfit she usually wears when robbing a well-known place.))  
  
..You want me to help you, Dark?  
  
*Starts to walk toward him, but he only gets farther away..*  
  
What the hell?  
  
*Begins running, but him, and the museum, is fading away*  
  
(Oo'').........?!?!?!  
  
.  
"Little Kaywatan.."  
  
*whirls around for the source of the voice* Sounds like that Ms. Ishtar, from the museum.. But how does she know who I am?!  
  
*The voice continues:* "..You carry on the acts of the very ancestors.."  
  
Where are you?!  
  
"..that have plagued my family like no other, not just for your families' sake, but also so to test your limits.."  
  
How do you know this? What-- rather, WHO are you, really?  
  
"But how far will you go, before you plunge into the very world you were hidden from,"   
  
What are you babbling about?  
  
"..but destined to enter? A world of, not only deception, but of also Shadows and Magic?"  
  
Okay, this is officially freaking me out..!!!!   
  
"Beware, and take caution. It will lead you far.."  
  
'Beware'?! What the hell are you hinting at?  
  
"..Little Kaywatan.."  
  
*Spins around to face the mysterious woman. Strangely, she's in some sort of Egyptian robe. There's a weird-looking gold necklace she wears* *Demands* Who are you? How do you know of my job?! *Continues to rant* And I'm not little! I'm about as tall as you are!  
  
*Ms. Ishtar continues to calmly gaze at.. me* *And without warning, she steps up, and places her hands on my shoulders, and begins to..*  
  
*..shake me?*  
  
"..Wake up.." *I hear her murmur*  
  
"....wake up!.." Hey, do I hear a bit of Yuriko in your voice?  
  
"..You are.." Speak up, your talking too softly!  
  
"..going to.." Going to what?!  
  
"..Be late for school!"  
  
WHAAAAT?!  
  
~*~  
  
"WAH!!"  
  
Rosz bolted up in her bed, blinking wildly. Her eyes still felt heavy, and she rubbed them. She looked around to see an exasperated Yuriko. On the other side of the room, she saw Bleu stumble out of her bed.  
  
"Who, what, where, when?!" Rosz demanded drowsily. She caught Bleu giving her a long glance before shaking her head.  
  
"Rosz!"  
  
Said-girl turned to the speaker, who was already in her new uniform, looking crisp and professional-like, even in that pink-and-blue attire. "Oh, G'morn Yuriko," she mumbled sleepily, eyes half-lidded. She yawned, and promptly snuggled under her covers again. "Gimme five minutes," said her muffled voice from underneath her blankets (she had two). She had already begun to drift off when:  
  
"No deal," replied Yurikp sharply, before yanking out the blankets, leaving Rosz uncovered. Rosz whimpered, and curl herself into a ball. "Co~old!" she whined.  
  
"Too bad," grumbled Bleu, taking a hold of her ankles. "If I don't get five mintues, you ain't either." She proceeded to tug at Rosz's legs, pulling her off the bed.  
  
Rosz clinged to her bedsheets unsuccessfully. "Nooo.. leave me alone!" she whined again.  
  
"Rosz, this is your last chance," Yuriko said in a deadly voice, meaning she was not to be reckoned with. "If you don't wake up in ten seconds, you will wake up very wet."  
  
"Actually, wet ~and~ cold.." Bleu piped up.  
  
Rosz cursed incoherently. They wouldn't....!  
  
"1...."  
  
Yes, they would. (-_-)  
  
The girl stirred quickly, blindly, straightening out. She knew that when Yuriko counted to ten, she didn't count.. fairly.  
  
You've only yourself to blame, she thought to herself. You were, after all, the one who taught her..  
  
"2...."  
  
Uh-oh, last second!  
  
"10~!"  
  
Rosz tumbled out of bed with a THUD!, rather ungracefully. "I'm up, I'm up, see?" she said angrily, glaring at the two girls. Bleu grinned, despite her tired-state, and Yuriko gave her a sneaky half-smile as she held out a plastic cup, turning it upside-down. Nothing spilled out.  
  
She bluffed!  
  
..Should've known, Rosz thought warily, as she cursed heavily.  
  
"Potty mouth!" Bleu sang, shaking her finger. "Naughty, naughty!"  
  
"Don't give a damn," Rosz scowled, getting up and stretching. She yawned as she picked up her blankets from the floor and dumped them on the previously warm bed. She'll just fix her bed later..  
  
"Well, hurry up and get ready," said Yuriko, "you have fifteen minutes."  
  
"Huh?" Rosz glanced at alarm clock placed on the desk. It read 7:45am. "Hey, how far is Bakura's house from the school grounds?" she asked slowly.  
  
"Dunno, a fifteen-minute walk or something," replied Yuriko, "but knowing how slow you are in the mornings.." She left it at that, before leaving the room.  
  
"Cheerful lady in the mornin', ain't she?" Rosz muttered, throwing a glare at the door where Yuriko had left.  
  
"Oh, shut up, and get dressed," said Bleu, rolling her eyes. "The bathroom's free, I think." She walked into the closet to get into her uniform.  
  
Rosz sighed before dragging her tired self to the desired room. She was still a bit light-headed from waking up, so wasn't paying much attention to where she was going.  
  
She bumped into someone. "Sorry, Bakura," she muttered, without looking up. Who else could it be? Bleu was in the bedroom, Yuriko had no reason to come from the direction that Bakura had come from. Second time in three days, she thought, before brushing that thought away. She continued her journey to the bathroom, went inside, and closed the door behind her to get ready for the long day ahead.  
  
"God, take my soul," she muttered tiredly.  
  
~*~  
  
-  
Bakura blinked, then shrugged. A yawn followed, and he stretched as he went downstairs to make some breakfast.  
  
"Bakura," someone suddenly began from behind.  
  
Bakura jumped, and turned around. Instinctively, he placed his hand over his chest as he sighed in relief. It was only Yuriko, but ~still~.. She really knew how to scare the daylights out of someone!  
  
He watched her regard him placidly, and continued with, "Can you make breakfast?"  
  
The question kinda caught him off-guard for some reason, but he nodded. "Hai {Yes}. What would you like?"  
  
"Preferably those breakfast sausages, with some rice. I'd cook it myself, but unfortunately--."  
  
"She can't cook jack even if her life depended on it," chided Rosz, smirking as she and Blu came down the stairs in their new uniform. ((That was fast, wasn't it?)) As they reached the bottom, the two studied their uniforms by looking at each other.  
  
It was similar to the Domino High uniform, with the same colors. However, the girls had the choice of wearing either a cornflower-blue, skirt-like jumper, or a skirt that came short above the knee. (They both wore the skirt.) They wore a blue-lined pink vest over a white blouse, and a small, matching blue bow. Instead of the usual one-inch-heeled recommended shoes (black, brown, or tan), Rosz wore soft-soled, ankle-high black boots. So did Bleu, but they were tan.  
  
"Hm, not bad," commented Rosz. "Not quite fond with pink; I prefer dark colors, like black, or a deep blue. Green's an exception." She tugged at the bow with distaste. "But this, here, is another story. I feel kinda choky."  
  
"I know," Bleu agreed, as she unclipped the bow and slipped it into her pocket. "This is so not my style. I'll just put it on later." She flipped her hair, to reveal medium-large silver hoops on her ears.  
  
"So, um, I'll start cooking," said Bakura as he went into the kitchen.  
  
"Don't cook anything for me," said Bleu. "I'll just pick something up from a deli as we walk to school."  
  
"Ditto that," added her friend.  
  
"So then it's just you, right, Haq-- I mean, Yuriko?" he asked the white-haired girl, who had begun to frown, but nodded when he said her first name. "Uhm, then I'll be in the kitchen."  
  
-*-  
-*-  
  
Ryou opened a cabinet and pulled out a frying pan, placing it on the stove. He poured some oil onto the heated pan, then took out a box of sausages from the freezer. Ryou opened it and dropped half its contents into the buring oil, two by two. Taking a 'spatula' (whatever you call those thingies that you use to flip pancakes), he began to roll the sausages around in the pan. The oil popped and sizzled as it slowly cooked the rolls of meat.  
  
-  
\\Hikari..\\ his yami began.  
  
\I know, Yami. Yes, go ahead. Just, stay out of sight, please? I don't want our guests to know about you. Not yet, anyway.\  
  
\\The inevitable happens.\\ Yami Bakura shrugged, \\Sooner or later, by fluke or chance, they're going to find out about me.. And maybe the Items as well. And pay attention, fool! You're going to burn the saugages!\\  
  
Ryou smiled. His yami had certainly changed, even though he was still his usual moody, "psychotic" self. He didn't abuse him as he had done before in the past, although he still did insult him from time to time. But he learned that most of the time his yami didn't mean it, and learned not to take it seriously.  
  
Then, Yami Bakura split apart from his host, and breathe in deeply, filling his nostrils with the aluring smell of cooking sausages. He gave Ryou a quick feral grin before swiping a one from the pan, with such quickness that only a professional thief like him could ever hope to achieve. ((*snort* 'Professional thief' my ass. Okay, so he WAS the King of Bandits in Egypt, but, hello? I think he's exaggerating. He's probably rusty. 5,000 years trapped in a Sennen Item with no physical exercise can do that to a person.))  
  
"Hey!" yelped Ryou, before slapping his free hand over his mouth, eyes wide.  
  
"Uh, you okay, Bakura..?" asked Rosz's voice from the living room.  
  
"Yes! I'm fine, I mean, everything's just okay-- I mean, I'm okay!!" Ryou mentally slapped himself. That sounded ~real~ lame.  
  
"Uh, o~kay.."  
  
His darker half snickered at him, as he happily munched the sausage he stole, savoring its juicy, slightly spicy taste. Ryou gave him a glare, just as he finished transfering the plump sausages onto a plate covered with a towel, to drain most of the excess oil out of them. His eyes wandered to the clock on the counter: It read 8:05am.  
  
"Oh, no!" Ryou exclaimed, placing the plate of the steaming sausages on the small eating table nearby. "I'm running late!" He rushed out of the kitchen, white hair that was neatly brushed earlier, now flying wildly everywhere.  
  
Yami Bakura raised an eyebrow before stuffing another roll of that delicious meat into his mouth. Not wanting to be seen in case any of those girls walked in, Yami Bakura quietly slipped into the pantry, no doubt checking if there was any cookies left, hidden behind boxes of pasta, or cereal. He softly closed the door, but left it slightly ajar, just enough for him to peek through.   
  
Which was just as well, because Yuriko just walked into the kitchen, holding a sort of tupperware. She paused, before grabbing a spoon and a fork from a drawer. The girl took out some rice out of the rice cooker, and loaded half the container with the white grains, them proceeded to empty the contents of the plate into the other half. Wait, Yami Bakura observed as she left, she left a few of those sausages on the plate. She covered the container before leaving.  
  
\Bye, Yami!\ called Ryou through their mental link as he left the house with the girls.  
  
He waited a couple of moments until he was sure that they had truly left. Then, he stepped out of the pantry, the box of found cookies in hand. With that, he began to lounge around the living, plotting havoc against Ryou's unsuspecting neighbors.   
  
Now, what would he do today? Send out prank calls to those that didn't have.. What did Ryou call those mechanical contraptions that could tell a caller who's callin'? Oh, yeah, a "Caller ID". Nah, been there.  
  
Mess with their electricity-boxes that they have by the side of their house? Done that.  
  
He ran some other suggestions through his head, each of them more pathetic than the last. Finally, he settled for just sitting on the couch, deciding to entertain himself with the inside of his soul room, with the things he put there that he had stolen thousands of years ago-- five thousand, to be exact.  
  
Yami Bakura sunk into the couch, making himself comfortable. Not that it wouldn't really matter, but he didn't like returning to the real world with cramps all over. He then submerged into his self-conscious mind, and into his soul room.  
  
~*~  
  
Rosz reached into an inner coat pocket of her black jacket, which normally held her CD player. However, this time, her hands met with nothing.  
  
"Oh, damn," she cursed softly, then glanced at her digital watch on her wrist. They had only been walking for about five minutes now. Maybe she can still go back..  
  
"Oh, Ryou?" she asked the older boy.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Domino Junior High is on what street again?"  
  
Ryou did not regard her seemingly innocent question with suspicion, she knew. But she saw Yuriko's head shift slightly, so that she eyed the younger girl from the corner of her eyes.  
  
"Uhm, you walk until you come to Hanahara Street, then turn right, and keep walking until you reach Aka-aki Avenue. It's not hard to miss, since it's close to its highschool counterpart."  
  
"Ah. Thanks."  
  
Rosz slowed her pace behind Ryou, so she could whisper into Bleu's ear. "Hey, I'm forgot my CD player back at Ryou's, so I'm going back. Need anything?"  
  
Bleu nodded. "Get mine, too, and my CD case. It's in my first drawer. We're nearing that deli Ryou recommended earlier," she added observingly. "What do you want?"  
  
"The usual, and Pepsi Twist, if they have any, which they should." Rosz took out her wallet, and handed her some money. "There, that should pay for it. Oh, get me some gum, willya? Thanks."  
  
Quietly, she slipped away, with only Bleu noticing. Oh, and Yuriko, too; she always knew when Rosz was going to 'disappear'.  
  
~*~  
  
Rosz started with a fast-walking pace, feeling a little edgy. It wouldn't be good to be late on her first day of school, in a new country, to boot. The feeling gradually increased, and Rosz glanced at her watch again. Not even a minute had passed. Nevertheless, the girl broke at a run.  
  
By the time she reached the house, she was panting heavily. Rosz cursed in both English, Japanese, and every language she knew in between as she forced herself to climb those blasted stairs. And with each step, she cursed that step to various religious hells, be they Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, and even the more ancient, like the Underworld of the Greek, Roman (hey, aren't they the same?), and Egyptian.  
  
Out of habit, she rang the doorbell about three times, before holding it down for five seconds. Then she remembered that she had the house keys, which Ryou had given to her, and her friends, yesterday. "Screw.." she muttered, searching her many, mostly hidden, pockets for the desired objects that would grant her entrance. Where the hell can they be? she thought, clearly frustrated, animated veins popping up in the air over her head.  
  
She looked up, and sweatdropped, before swatting the signs of aggrivation away. Damn, now she wished she didn't have these many pockets. Oh dear God, where are they?!  
  
Now she remembered: she had left them on the desk.  
  
Inside her bedroom.  
  
Inside the house she was trying to get in.  
  
Damn.  
  
~*~  
  
Although in his subconsciousness, Bakura heard the ringing of the doorbell. Who could that be? he wondered. Probably delivery, or something. Standing up, he stretched as he walked to the door.  
  
Someone was ringing the doorbell continuously. Growling, he prepared to send that soul to the Shadow Realm. Just as he got to the door, the ringing stopped. Nevertheless, he was looking pretty demonic, and yanked the door open.  
  
He blinked. There was no one there.  
  
Which gave him an idea.  
  
The yami went back inside to find some tape....  
  
~*~  
  
Rosz grunted as she climbed the tree to reach her bedroom window, which was left open. She had forgotten to close it earlier, and now, it was a good thing that she did. With practiced ease, she slipped into the bedroom, and looked around.   
  
She dropped her bookbag onto the floor, and began looking through Bleu's first drawer. When she had found her friend's CD player and case, she stuffed it into her bag, then went looking though her own drawer. Finding her CD player, and case, she stuffed it into the proper pocket in her jacket.   
  
Then she grabbed her keys from the desk before slinging her backpack over her shoulder. With that, Rosz ran out of the bedroom, and slammed the door shut, and began to fly down the stairs like there was no tomorrow.  
  
If she managed to be late, and Yuriko found out, there probably would BE no tomorrow..  
  
*sweatdrop*  
  
God help her.  
  
~*~  
  
Bakura paused in his rummaging of a drawer in search for tape when he heard the unmistakeable sound of a door slamming upstairs.  
  
Someone was trying to break into his house? Oh, HELL no. No robber would get away with stealing from HIM, so help him Ra. ..Actually, Ra didn't have anything to do with that, but, that's beside the point. The point is-- Oh, screw the point. Bottomline is, Yami Bakura just reserved a spot in the Shadow Realm for the unfortunate soul.  
  
Stealthily, his cat-quiet feet quietly made their way up the stairs..  
  
Then he saw ~her~.  
  
~*~  
  
Rosz was indeed flying down the stairs. Just then, she saw Ryou at the foot of the stairs.  
  
Waitadamnminute.  
  
But before she could pursue that train of thought, she slipped.  
  
And fell.  
  
Then collided.  
  
On Ryou.  
  
Or so she thought.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sweet Mother Mary," Rosz moaned. Her head was positively pounding, and she heard a roaring in her ears. Slowly, her head cleared, and looked down to see what-- or rather, WHO had broken her fall.  
  
Was it just her, or was Ryou below her? But that can't be-- he's on his way to school.  
  
She heard 'Ryou' speak. But it wasn't the same voice as the Ryou she had known for three, four days. This voice was more.. deeper, harsher. Not soft, nor gentle.  
  
Now that she looked closer, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. The face looked like Ryou's, but it was definitely not his own. The features were more.. sharper, defined. Some of his bangs kinda stuck up like batwings.  
  
"Ra.." the Ryou look-alike coughed. Rosz gasped audible, and scrambled off him. When she watched him get his bearings, she let out a small gasp when he turned his gaze to her.  
  
Oh, holy shi-- He had crimson eyes, like Yuriko's! And here she was, gaping like an idiot.  
  
"Rosz?" he snarled, rubbing his head. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"  
  
"Who- who are you?!" Rosz cried. Pause. "OH, SWEET MOTHER! I'M GONNA BE LA~AATE!"  
  
Without further questioning, Rosz promptly forgot the white-haired boy. She jumped up, yanked the door open, and tore down the street.  
  
Yami Bakura heard her curse all the way, in English, Japanese, and Ancient Egyptian, along with other languages he didn't recognize.  
  
He knew that he would be discovered sooner or later, by fluke or chance. He just didn't know it'd be THAT soon.  
  
He watched the girl trip face-fall onto the sidewalk, and as she pulled herself together.  
  
Knowing there was nothing he could do until the afternoon, he just continued his search for the tape..  
  
~*~  
  
Rosz sighed in relief as Domino Junior High came into sight. There was a large clock over its main entrance, and it read 8:23am.  
  
She ran up to the door, and opened it, stepping into a hallway with numerous doors lining it. At on end was a staircase, and at the other end was another staircase. Oh great, she didn't even know where the guidance counsellor's office was!  
  
"Rosz!"  
  
She whipped her head to her left to the sound of her name. There was a door open, and the head of Bleu poked out. "By time you got here," she told her. "I've been here for about ten minutes."  
  
Rosz walked into the room. It was furnished quite cozily, with a comforting atmosphere. Her boots never made a sound on the polished, wooden floor as she stepped into the room. Bleu was seated in a plush, mahogany chair, twirling a strand of her medium-long hair. There was another seat next to her, which Rosz settled herself into. She nervously looked up at the desk in front.  
  
There was a mid-aged woman behind that desk. Her black hair was pulled up into a bun, but loose hairs that evaded capture framed her lightly tanned face. Her hazel-colored, almond-shaped eyes turned their attention to Rosz from thin-rimmed glasses.  
  
"I'm Ms. Ryu, the guidance counsellor," said the woman in a gentle, yet firm voice, standing up, and extending her hand.  
  
"Rosz Ambre's the name, ma'am," she replied, taking the hand and shaking it.  
  
"You have only a few minutes before classes start," she told Rosz, who looked flushed. "However, you need not to rush, so don't worry.  
  
So, welcome to Domino City Junior High. You are from the United States of America, correct?"  
  
The two girls nodded.  
  
"Do you speak English?"  
  
Another nod. "It was my first language," said Rosz.   
  
"I learned it when I was younger, when I lived in the Philippines, but I didn't use it often until I went to school in the U.S. 'til I was in first grade," explained Bleu.  
  
"So you're fluent in Japanese as well?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Any other languages you speak fluently, or at least understand sufficently?"  
  
Rosz and Blu exchanged glances. Pretend they only know a few languages....  
  
"French," said Rosz, "and some Chinese."  
  
"Spanish, too," Bleu added.  
  
Ms. Ryu regarded them, impressed. "You're bilingual, then?"  
  
"If that's what you call it, then I guess so," Rosz nodded.  
  
"Okay, so you'll be taking an advanced English class, then," confirmed the counsellor. "Will you be taking any extra language courses?"  
  
"I s'pose.." Rosz sighed, a little reluctantly.  
  
"Hmm, give me a minute to make up you're schedules," said Ms. Ryu. She flipped through some papers on her desk, and handed a form to each of the girls. "Please fill this out."  
  
While the two filled out the form, which was about five pages long, and ~crammed~ with questions front and back, they heard the rapid typing and furious clicking of the lady in front of them. "There, finished!" she announced triumphantly, at the same time the girls handed in their completed forms.  
  
Ms. Ryu glanced at the clock. "8:46?" she gasped. "My, how time flies!" She smiled at the girls, who watched her uncertainly. "Before you go, I'd like you to be aware of the basics. Gum is not allowed in or on school grounds, even in the cafeteria, and you need a hallway pass if you have to get out of the classroom for whatever reason during classes."  
  
She paused to look at the shorter girl, who had immediately stopped chewing. She raised an eyebrow before continuing.  
  
"Make sure you have everything you need before your required class, because some teachers, I understand, are not as generous to allow students to go to their lockers to get their items.   
  
Your lunch period is taken in the cafeteria, but you can also have your lunch outside on the school grounds, as long as you've asked your homeroom teacher first. Free period-- or recess, whatever you teens call it-- is held outside, depending if the weather agrees with us. If it doesn't, then your free period is held in the auditorium. Any questions?"  
  
The girls shook their heads 'no'. "Great. Now, according to your schedules, you both have homeroom together. Once you step outside, you just take the staircase to your right, two flights up to the 4th floor. Go left until you reach classroom 4-A." She nodded her head, and the girls took it as a dismissal. But before they stepped out, the counsellor had one more thing to say:  
  
"Your books, by the way, are on the shelf to your left."  
  
"Uh, heh heh.. Thanks," said Rosz, smiling sheepishly as each girl gathered her textbooks. They stepped outside when Ms. Ryu spoke.  
  
"Oh, one more thing!"  
  
She walked up to the girls, towering over them with her full height of 5'8''. "Wow," Rosz gulped in awe, "you're tall." Bleu would've tried to elbow her, had her hands been free of textbooks.  
  
The lady flashed her a smile. "Why, thank you," she said. Then she held out two slips of paper for the girls, who took one. "It's your hall pass. And once again, welcome to Domino Junior High!" she added, watching the girls wave at her one more time before climbing-- and struggling, by the way-- up the stairs under the weight of the textbooks.  
  
"Don't they have an elevator, or something?!" both girls' wondered aloud, voice echoing through the hallway.  
  
"Hey, what time is it?"  
  
"Erm.. HOLY-- It's 8:55!! AIE!"  
  
Ms. Ryu only chuckled before returing to her work.  
  
~*~  
  
When Ryou had discovered Rosz 'missing', they were already in front of Domino Junior High. Ryou was about to panic when Blu assured him she just went back to the deli, saying she dropped something, and told her to go ahead, and that she'll meet up with them. He unknowingly bought the story.  
  
Now, he was on his way to homeroom. Yuriko had to drop by the guidance counsellor's office to pick up her schedule, and do whatever late-transfers had to do.  
  
Stepping inside, he found a desk to sit in, and took out a book out to read before class started. Yuugi and his friends said their greetings, and he himself took a seat in front of him. Jou, Honda, and Anzu sat in seats adjacent or somewhere nearby. Except for Anzu, who only listened, the boys started talking about Duel Monsters.  
  
Right before the teacher, Mr. Ben Kuro-Tsuki, started the first period of the day (Math: Algebra), there was a rap on the door, before it was slid open. In stepped a girl who looked like Yuriko: same hair color, same complexion, same posture.  
  
However, the girl that stepped in had her hair plaited in two long tails of neat, small braids, where as Yuriko had pulled her hair into a ponytail (like Lara Croft's). Instead of her intemidating crimson eyes, hazel-eyes gazed calmly out from sleek, silver, thin-wired glasses that framed her face professionally. Her hands were folded in front of her crisp uniform, and she had the mature image of a future business women, the kind of impression Seto Kaiba had, except for the cold demeanor, which was replaced by a tranquil, benevolent one.  
  
All eyes were turned on the newcomer, and the teacher smiled. "Ah, here is our new arrival," he said. "Class, I'd like you to welcome our new transfer student."  
  
The girl glanced at Ryou, and their eyes met.  
  
She ~was~ her.  
  
The girl bowed. "Konnichiwa. Watashi wa Haqikah Yuriko desu[1]." {Hello, my name is Yuriko Haqikah.} She glanced again at Ryou, who was staring at her. "I'm from the state of New York, in the United States of America. I'm here for about a year, for some.. family business."  
  
The teacher nodded, and scanned the classroom for an unoccupied seat. Finding one, he said, "Please sit in that empty desk behind Bakura. I believe you already know him," his eyes twinkled, "but I'll just ask him to raise his hand anyway."  
  
Bakura brought his hand up, and Yuriko walked down the aisle with grace in each step. She sat down behind him.  
  
"Don't ask," she said softly, when Ryou began to open his mouth. He closed it. "I'll explain. Crimson -colored eyes are rather.. abnormal, and very attention-catching. I hate attention. Having white hair like yours doesn't help, but there's nothing I can do about ~that~. However, to make my eyes less.. eye-catching-- no pun intended-- I just wore green-contacts."  
  
Ryou nodded as he opened his textbook. Red and green made some sort of shade of brown. He ripped a small portion of some scrap paper, and wrote something down, before slipping it to the girl.   
  
Yuriko silently read, 'But now we look like we're related. I'm, er, a favorite target for bullies, so they might bother you too, since we look alike (more or less).'  
  
She scribbled something on the back, and handed it to Ryou.  
  
'Concerned? Please, don't be. I am able to take care of myself.'  
  
"Okay," sighed Ryou softly, so only Yuriko could hear.  
  
"Trust me, Bakura," she replied, just as soft, "I am capable of.. standing against bullies. The first answer, Mr. Kuro-Tsuki?" she suddenly said, her voice clear. Bakura looked up, startled. "It's x=78.47 sq miles per unit."  
  
The teacher nodded, "Correct, Haqikah. And Bakura, the second answer?"  
  
"Uhm.."  
  
"Glance at the note," Yuriko whispered, her lips barely moving, eyes staring straight at the board.  
  
The solution 'y=87.54 sq miles per unit' was scribbled in hasty handwriting, circled. Ryou repeated it.  
  
Mr. Kuro-Tsuki raised an eyebrow. "Next time I'll have to be more sneaky if I'm going to catch the both of you off guard," he said dryly.  
  
"Pardon, sensei {teacher}?" Yuriko asked with all innocence, head cocked to one side. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand.  
  
"Like I said," was the only reply. "Now, back to the lesson.."  
  
Ryou turned his head ever so slightly, forming the words, 'Thank you' on his lips. Yuriko caught this.  
  
"Don't get used to it. I'm not always going to be around to watch your back."  
  
~*~Lunch with Rosz and Bleu~*~  
  
"Hey! Bleu!"  
  
Rosz fought against the current of students who made thier way towards the cafeteria, while she tried to get to Bleu, who in turn was desperately trying not to be swept away unmercifully. She made a face, and ducked into an empty classroom.  
  
"Excuse me-- pardon me--"  
  
Rosz dodged left and right, growling under her breath. Seeing an opening in the crowd, she dove in with an, "Excuse me!" and ducked into the same classroom her friends had just entered.  
  
"Whoa," she gasped, catching her breath, "What a jungle out there."  
  
Bleu nodded, poked her head out the doorway, and hastily stuck it back in. "It's so much worse than traffic on Queens Boulevard in NYC!" she complained, covering her nose. "An airplane nearly gave my nose a paper-cut!"  
  
"They should set a speed limit for paper airplanes, huh?" teased Rosz.  
  
Bleu shot her a glare, before poking out her head again. Her body followed, and her voice said from the other side of the doorway: "It's all clear."  
  
Rosz stepped forward, and Bleu turned around, grinning mischiveously. Rosz instantly knew what was coming next, so she jumped/dove, only to smack herself nose-first into the door.  
  
Bleu had slammed it close.  
  
Rosz yelled, "SCREW YOU!", pounded on the door, and yanked it open, glaring murderously at the offender, who was actually no where to be seen. There was a giggle to her left, and she whipped her head in that direction, in time to see a certain someone dashing into a corner.  
  
Rosz sighed and breathed in and out, letting her anger ebb away. She didn't want to eat her lunch period all alone..  
  
"Hey, Rosz, come here!" rang Bleu'a voice though the now empty halls. Rosz ran to her.  
  
"You know, all this running ain't healthy for me," she panted, hands on her knees as her head hung down.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," said Bleu before dragging her off by the elbow. "But guess what!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"8th graders get to eat lunch with the high school students! That means we have a good chance of seein' Yuriko."  
  
Rosz gave her a skeptical look. "'See' Yuriko? Uh, hullo? Yuriko always puts on some diguise, y'know, and we always somehow fall for it."  
  
"Who else has white hair, other than our cute, kind host who's standing next to her?" Bleu asked, eyes trained on a certain person.  
  
It wasn't hard to spot who she was looking for. There were only two white-haired teens, one a boy, the other a girl. And they were just a few yards away from their standing point. "Other than the fact she has brown-eyes, and glasses, than okay, I guess that is her," agreed Rosz.  
  
The two looked at each other, and nodded. "We must be the youngest students in the school," sighed Rosz as they entered the busy lunchroom uneasily.  
  
"And looking as if we're related probably won't help.." muttered her friend.  
  
"Maybe we should just say hi, and then find a seat for ourselves," suggested Rosz after they were half a distance away from the two. She then noticed the group teens around them, recognizing one of them.  
  
"Hey!" she exclaimed, pointing at the shortest member of the group. "That was the one I was telling you about!"  
  
"It's not nice to point," scolded Bleu, slapping her hand as it hastily retreated away. "You mean the kid with that pyramid that looks like it's made from solid gold, and has tri-colored hair that defies all rules of gravity?"  
  
She giggled at her own joke. "..Defies.. gravity.. Hah! That was a good one," she grinned. Rosz nodded, smiling widely as she pulled her friend towards the group.  
  
"Hey, Yuriko, Bakura, Mutou!" she yelled loudly.  
  
A few other students glanced up before returning to their businesses. However, the group of teens watched the girls advanced, half of them in puzzlement.  
  
"Friends of yours, Yug'?" asked a tall blonde boy to Yugi.  
  
"Well, no, more like an aquaintance," admitted Rosz once she was in hearing distance. "Met him through his ol' gramps, when I bought a card from his game shop."  
  
Yugi nodded to confirm this. "You bought a Change of Heart, didn't you?"  
  
"Yep. And we're just here visiting our dear friend and host," said Rosz, giving Yuriko a hug, and Bakura a salute.  
  
"You do know my disguise was simple just so you can recognize me?" asked Yuriko quietly, low enough so only she could hear her. Rosz nodded, and let go of her.  
  
"Hello, Rosz, Bleu," Bakura greeted politely.  
  
"Hiya," replied the girls cheerfully. "Well anyways, who are your companions?" asked Bleu, looking at the unidentified teens, one girl and two boys.  
  
Just as the blonde opened his mouth to speak, Rosz cut in, "That's Jonouchi Katsuya, second in Duelist Kingdom, one of the semi-finalists-- or was it finalists?" She shrugged, "Anyway, he was a finalist of some sort in Battle City. Jonouchi's his first name, by the way."  
  
"But since dere's alotta 'Katsuya's in the school, I'm go by my firs' name."  
  
Rosz acknowledged this, but was met with a blank look from Bleu. "You know, Duel Monsters? That card game I'm so hooked on?"  
  
Bleu's eyes came alight with remembrance. "Oh! ..So?"  
  
'Jonouchi Katsuya', who was sticking out his chest proudly, looked at her as if she was insane. "'So'?" he repeated incredously. "Dat was no easy feat!"  
  
The other boy, who had his brown hair styled in a buzz-cut, where the front of his hair kinda stuck together like a cliff of a bluff, asked innocently, "'Feat'? Hear that, Anzu? He learned a new word today!"  
  
The brunette girl next to him giggled while the blonde boy smacked him. "Don't mind these mindless bakas {idiots/also means 'stupid' when using it as an adjective}," she said. "I'm Mazaki Anzu. The other boy is Honda Hiroto."  
  
"I'm Ambre Rosz," bowed Rosz.  
  
"I'm.. erm, last name first, or first name last?" Bleu asked Rosz.  
  
"Surname first."  
  
"Oh, okay. My name is Estelle Bleu." She just bowed her head.  
  
The teens, including Rosz and Bleu, were walking towards a table near a corner of the lunchroom. Once there, Yugi and his friends sat down.  
  
"May I sit?" asked Yuriko. Bakura scooted over to give her a seat. The younger girls stood uncertainly, before turning around. "Um, well, nice to meetcha!" said Rosz as they began to walk away. "We'll just.. find somewhere to eat."  
  
"See you at home," added Blu.  
  
"Oh, wait!"  
  
They turned around to see Yugi getting up. "Why don't you sit with us?"  
  
They exchanged looks, and accepted the invitation. "Arigatou {thank you}," they said, sitting down across from Bakura and Yuriko.  
  
Honda, and Jonouchi stood up, along with Yugi, as they made their way to the lunch line. "Make sure to save our spots!" called Jou.  
  
Anzu gave him a thumbs-up, and turned to the three girls. She extended her hand to Yuriko, "Sorry that I didn't get to introduce myself properly in homeroom. Welcome to Domino High, Haqikah," she smiled. She turned to the other girls. "Nice to meet you, Ambre, Estelle."  
  
Yuriko returned the smile, and shook her hand. "No offense taken."   
  
"Nice to meet ya, too!" Rosz and Bleu replied cheerfully.  
  
"So, how long have you been in Japan?" Anzu asked, unpacking her lunch, which consisted of a ham-and-cheese sandwich, orange soda, and a couple of japanese rice cakes.  
  
Bleu handed her best friend a wrapped package and a Pepsi Lemon Twist. She opened it, and scanned its contents. "Turkey.. mayo.. lettuce.. tomatoe.. ham.." Rosz sniffed the sandwich, and smiled. "Oh, good, you didn't forget the vinegar!"  
  
Anzu and Bakura nearly choked on their lunches. (Bakura had a deli sandwich, too, and water.) "Vinegar?" asked Anzu, once she cleared her throat.  
  
Rosz gave her a look of naviety. "It enhances the flavor!" she chirped, taking a bite. To Bleu: "You got the same thing, huh?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"So, you're from the United States?" Anzu asked.  
  
Yuriko opened her lunch, which consisted of-- if you remembered earlier-- breakfast sausages and rice. "Yes."  
  
"New York City, the Big Apple!" Bleu added with cheer.  
  
"Tell me-- us-- about your self."  
  
Just then Yugi, Jou, and Honda sat down with their lunch. Rosz waved, and answered Anzu. "We~ell, I turned fourteen last October, and was preparing to go to Brooklyn Technical, in New York City. Second best high school in the city next school year.   
  
Unexpected plans came up, and the next thing you know, we were on a plane to Japan! Originally, it was just supposed to be a trip, and we'd be back before the last month of school was over. But then, it was decided we'd stay here for a year, and attend school while we were at it. Our guardian-- my 'rents are still in the States-- couldn't.. what's the word? Whatever," she waved her hand, "she had busy plans, and couldn't leave us alone. Security reasons, y'know. Anyways, she arranged papers and such, so we shifted from tourist to citizen, just for a year, and a month. Then, we moved.  
  
Anyway, about me: Born October 21. Hobbies are drawing, reading, surfing the Net, and baking. And ste-- Eh, staring at star-filled skies. I'm the oldest in my family, and I have a younger sister, and a younger brother. Bleu, here, has been my best friend since first grade."  
  
"Unfortunately, yes," Bleu sighed sadly. Rosz groaned, and lightly punched her shoulder. "Anyway, my turn! I'm born on May 1, and my hobbies are singing, watching TV, hanging with my friends (altho' we're now in different countries).. Stuff like that. High school? Hm, well I had a choice to go to this Catholic high school, or this public high school. I chose to go to Bishop Ford [2]. And how I got stuck with this airhead? A real long story." She turned her head to Yuriko, who was looking rather uninterested. "Your turn, Yuri!"  
  
Yuriko, whose head was rested in her hand, simply said, "Yuriko Haqikah, age 16. I celebrate my birthday on October 31. I live with Rosz's family in the States. Can't cook for my life."  
  
"That's it?" Jou asked. Anzu elbowed him as Rosz shook her head.  
  
"Nah, Yuri-chan here is more than she let's on! She's a bilingualist, extraordinaire! White-hair as pale as a snowflake, crimson-- Sorry, I meant brown," Rosz corrected herself when said-girl shot her a warning look. "Sometimes the light can make her brown eyes look red-ish."  
  
"And an added bonus:" Bleu cut-in, "she looks like she's related to--"  
  
"One of the school's bishonen--"  
  
She recieved stares, a smirk from Bleu, and noticed Bakura's face was tinted a light pink. "Hey! Get your mind outta the gutter!" she snapped. "I'm just quoting some opinions of giggling girls who seem like fangirls of yours, Bakura."  
  
Poor Bakura! His face seemed to flush slightly darker, and slumped in his chair. Rosz's eyes trailed over to a group of girls who sat a couple of tables away, and were darting glances at the Brit-boy. Yugi-tachi {I THINK it means something along the lines of 'Yugi's/and friends'} followed her gaze, and looked back at Ryou. Then again at the girls, and back at the embrassed teen. Yuriko still had that disinterested look on her face.  
  
"I rest my case," Rosz stated, crossing her arms.  
  
"That was harsh, Roszi," Bleu giggled. Rosz rested her hand on the table, and look at Ryou, who was looking down. "Sorry, Bakura, sir," she said, laying sorry-ness and cute-ness in her tone.  
  
He looked at her, and gave her a small smile. "Uhm, okay.."  
  
Rosz took another bite from her sandwich, and the group began to talk about some subjects, from how they (Yuriko, Rosz, and Bleu) felt about their teachers, which was their favorite classes ("Mine's Math," Rosz commented.), etc. Then it ranged to what they did over the weekend, the latest rumors ("I heard Fujiko-san was wearing a turtleneck, and when she stretched her neck, there was a large, red sore on her neck," Anzu said excitedly.), and finally, to Duel Monsters.  
  
"Hey, didn't you says you were hooked on Duel Monsters?" Yugi inquired Rosz curiously. She tilted her head.  
  
"I've got a deck, if that's what one can call it."  
  
"Do you have it with you?" he asked eagerly.  
  
~  
(-_-) Runin outta memory.. 


	6. To School We Go, Part II & Rosz Kinda Go...

The Art of Thievery  
by Rosz of the Angel  
  
Disclaimer: ..*shoots down Japanese Lawyers* Good riddance. (^_^)  
  
Lawyers: ..(X_x)  
  
Disclaimer: ..But I still dun own Yu-gi-oh! AND Ryou-kun! (T-T) Aww..  
  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
Chapter Four was broken off, because I was runnin' outta memory. I use Notepad, just so you know. So.. here's Part II of Chapter Four. Oh, and when anyone's speaking English, it's like "{blah blah}", 'kay? Ah, and the term 'Yugi-tachi'-- I screwed up there. I meant to say whatever 'Yugi 's/and friends' meant in Japanese. Anyhoo, Enjoy.  
  
Oh, AND THANK YOU ALL! (-^_^-) I know it may not mean much, BUT I GOT 20 REVIEWS! THANK YOU, THANK YOU! *bows profusely*  
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~  
  
::Chapter Four, Part II::   
To School We Go..   
  
.  
((To Where We Left Off Last Time..))  
  
"Hey, didn't you say you were hooked on Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked Rosz curiously. She tilted her head.  
  
"I've got a deck, if that's what one can call it."  
  
"Do you have it with you?" he asked again, with eagerness. Rosz nodded, as she reached into her lunchbag and pulled out a deck of cards. She gave it to Yugi, who inspected it.  
  
"..Lady of Faith, Card Destruction, Soul Release.." he murmured, more to himself. "..Water Omotics, Protector of the Throne, Harpie Lady.." His eyes widen, impressed. "Whoa, a holographic Dark Magician Girl, not to mention that Change of Heart you bought yesterday."  
  
Jou looked over his shoulder. "Hey, most of these cards are girls!"  
  
"She has some strong Fusion cards, like Skull Knight and Labyrinth Tank. Empress Judge is the only female Fushion card she has," Yugi informed his best friend. He gave the owner of the cards a puzzled look. "But, all this goods are only good by themselves. This deck as many major flaws, and won't help you win in duels."  
  
Rosz shrugged. "Whoever said I was a duelist? I keep these cards nearby as muses. I'm an inspiring manga artist, you know."  
  
"Aspiring," corrected Yuriko.  
  
"Whatever." She opened a folder she was holding and laid it on the table.  
  
"No spills, got that?" she growled at Jou warningly. There was a glint in her eye, and Jou gulped. She might be shy around strangers older than her, but when it came to her drawings, she was like a mama bear protecting her cubs! She gave a couple of finished sheets to the nearest person: Anzu.  
  
"Wow, you're good!" Anzu exclaimed, as she flipped through them. They were all of feminine sorts of fantasy and mythical creatures, like fairies, nymphs, and sphinxes.  
  
"Thanks, Mazaki," she replied shyly, giving another pile of paper to Honda and Jou.  
  
They whistled. Honda and Jou inspected the subjects of these pictures intently, which were of pretty teen girls in either cute skirts, adventure-like attires, or clothes that flattered their slim bodies and modest busts. There were a couple of well-drawn boys, but none of them were completely finished.  
  
"Hey, what about these?" Yugi pointed to some papers left inside her folder.  
  
"Oh, uhm, those aren't--"  
  
Jou reached for them, and shifted through the drawings. "Whoa, are these ladies naked!?!--OW!!"  
  
He rubbed his head where the brunette girl had smacked him. "JOU!" she hissed.  
  
Rosz, whose head was looking down, snapped up. She glared at him, and snatched her pics away. "Those were unfinished, idiot! It's all a sequence: head, torso, ~then~ clothes! Geez!" She sniffed, and changed her seating. Now, she was sitting on the corner of the table, sulking.  
  
"Is she going to be alright?" Bakura asked Yuriko.  
  
She acted as if it were all a routine: in other words, she sighed in a bored manner: "Yes. Give her candy, and she'll become her genki {cheerful} self again."  
  
Bleu grinned as she waved a stick of winterfresh gum in her friend's face. "Lookie what I gotsie!" she sang as she watched Rosz's eyes follow the gum in a hypnotized manner.  
  
"Gimme!" she barked, trying to grab for the gum, missing at each swipe. "Gimme gimme GIMME!"  
  
Yugi and his friends gasped; even Yuriko froze. "No, Estelle, stop!" Yugi said. "That's not allowed!"  
  
Rosz and Bleu paused, and the two looked at them. "What's not allowed?" they asked in unison.  
  
"The gum," Anzu said, barely above a whisper. "Put it away-- don't let the hall monitor--"  
  
.  
"Well, well, well.. What do we have here?"  
.  
  
"--catch.. you.." Anzu finished, voice trailing away. Ryou flinched at the sight of the tall, wide senior classman who stood in front of them, cruelly smirking. Jou and Honda stood up, faces set. Yugi's gentle, purple eyes turned hard, and the two best friends could've sworn it flashed red for a moment.  
  
"Having gum in school is against school policy," the mean-looking teen continued, looking at Bleu, "And breaking school rules is _not_ a good thing, for your rep OR your health."  
  
He took a step forward. Rosz stood up, and blocked Bleu protectively from his view. She began to smirk, but that quickly morphed into a sweet smile. "Oh, gomen-nasai! {I'm sorry!}" she cried, bowing, "We forgot! See, we're the new transfers, and that rule totally slipped our mind! Back at home, gum _was_ allowed!"  
  
Those behind her-- meaning, Yugi, Jou, Honda, Anzu, Bakura, Yuriko, and Bleu-- saw her fingers cross behind her back.  
  
"Terribly sorry!" she continued, bowing again. "Won't happen again! Promise on my ancestor's grave!"  
  
The hall monitor took another menacing step towards Rosz, forcing her to tilt her head up to retain eye contact.  
  
"Make sure it doesn't happen again," he said, "Boku wa Ueyama {My name is Ueyama [3]}, and you'd better watch your step."  
  
He turned around, and began to strode in the opposite direction. Pausing in mid-step, before continuing, he added: "Both of you."  
  
Everyone was looking now looking at them. Rosz's super-artifical smile turn into a scowl, and she flashed her middle finger at his back.  
  
"{Asshole}," she muttered in English, stalking off to her spot.  
  
Yuriko's sensitive ears picked this up, and smiled to herself. Bleu, being the nearest, stifled a giggle, as Bakura stared, pondering at this mood-change in his housemate. She seemed so.. naive, and like an airhead. Apparently, she had two side-personalities.  
  
Those close enough (in distance) to her, who understood what she said (which was a few), stared at her. A glare was sent their way, and they turned their attention to their lunches.  
  
Sitting down, Rosz gave her new friends a big smile, asking brightly,  
  
"Well, that was certainly interesting, wasn't it?"  
  
.  
~*End of Part II*~  
  
Readers: ....*silently holds up their trademark Weapons of Doom*  
  
Rosz: ..0_0;;;;; Uhh.. To be Continued..?  
  
One of the Readers: *battlecry* CHARGE!!  
  
Rest of Them: *charges*  
  
Rosz: ..O________O;;;;;;;;;;; Erm, just.. joking..? *sees them still charging at her* ..AIIEEEE!! *runs away*  
  
Readers: STAY STILL! WE'LL MAKE THIS QUICK!!  
  
Rosz: X| HOW CAN I CONTINUE THIS FIC, IF YOU'RE BENT ON MAKING ME MINCEMEAT?!  
  
Readers: *pause* ..Good point. Fine, you continue this chapter, and your doom will be delayed.  
  
Rosz: ....--__--;; You're SO gracious..  
  
~*Continuing Part II*~  
-  
  
~*~Free Period~*~  
  
She was mad. Oh, she was _boiling_ inside. But she mustn't let him know that; she'd have to maintain her naive-airhead cover.  
  
It seemed that the bully of a hall monitor had some 'friends' who had seen the rude sign she had made behind his back. Therefore, he learned of this, and decided that gave him a 'reason' to teach her a 'lesson'. So, after lunch, Ueyama had snatched her folder away, and was leafing through its contents.  
  
Jou and Honda offered to brawl with him, but she turned down the offer.  
  
If someone was to put him in his place, it would be _her_.  
  
Ueyama raised his eyebrows as he looked through her papers of her drawing folder. His eyes rested on her unfinished pictures, and he eyed her.  
  
"You know, porn isn't allowed on school grounds," he drawled, as his 'cronies' sniggered. They, in turn, inspected the drawings with hungry eyes, taking in every soft detail, every finely drawn curve.  
  
"It's not porn!" she protested earnestly. "It's just the way I draw, sir! I draw the body first, then the clothes; it's easier that way!"  
  
"Right," he nodded sarcastically.  
  
"It's true!"  
  
"But the evidence is right before my eyes. I will have to.. confiscate this."  
  
Rosz clenched her fists. 'Must.. not..' "I don't think so," she said quietly, but clearly. She tightened her fist, and her nails bit into her palms; she ignored the pain.  
  
"Who's gonna stop me?" Ueyama taunted.  
  
'..Must.. not..'  
  
"I think I'll hold onto this for a while."  
  
Rosz could feel a familiar burning in her eyes. 'No.. mustn't.. damnit, why am I crying?!' she yelled silently. Her eyes began to water, and she hung her head, furiously blinking back tears.  
  
'No! Tears are a sign of weakness!' she berated to herself, as something wet started to slide down her cheeks. Imagination-simulated images of the bully coveting her drawings-- ones she'd put her whole heart into!-- made her tears well-up faster. Her nose began to get runny, and she tried to sniff quietly. Rosz tried to regain her composture, and flexed her hands open and close, breathing deeply through her mouth.  
  
"Give me back my drawings," repeated Rosz again, deadly quiet. Bitter drops of tears entered her mouth; she licked her lips, tasting the salty water. "Or I-- I swear to God I'll kick you so hard where the sun don't shine, it'll stick up inside-out!"  
  
Every guy-- and girl; which was virtually everybody outside-- within hearing range winced. Guys instinctly winced at the imaginary pain of just envisioning it, and the girls shuddered at the mental image that was produced.  
  
However, Ueyama didn't even flinch, and tutted.  
  
"Now, now, we mustn't have that sort of crude language used by a girl your age," he said, smirking. "Especially if it's an empty threat."  
  
Rosz's eyes were still cast down, but the tears were welling up, faster than ever. Anger, hatred, comtempt-- they began to burn red in her cheeks. The only coolness of relief were the trails of moisture down her cheeks.  
  
'So tears are good for something, but.... Some comfort,' she spat mentally.  
  
Drip. Drop.  
  
With interest, Ueyama watched teardrops fall to the pavement beneath the girl. "And empty threats are especially useless if used by a crybaby girl," he added.  
  
Deep growls escaped her throat, very much like one of those magnificent carnivorous members of the cat family. Suddenly, a smirk flitted across her face, but it quickly vanished. Oh, GOD, this was gonna be a riot..  
  
Ever so slowly, she raised her head, a wide, insane smile plastered onto her face. Empty light-brown eyes stared at Ueyama, and tears freely flowed down her cheeks. Her head cocked to one side, and she giggled.  
  
"You'll.. die.." she said in a very cheerful, child-like manner.  
  
Students watched wide-eyed, and Yugi and his friends had their mouths hanging open. The bully's cronies backed off, and Ueyama's smiled faded with nerviousness. It wasn't entirely remembered, but the last time the previous hall monitor, named Ushio Tenrio, messed with someone who displayed an entirely different personality than known ((If you've ever read Vol.1, Issue 1 of Shonen Jump, remember the bully/hall monitor who tried to scheme lotsa yen outta Yugi?)), he was found swimming in a pile of trash, talking about how all that stuff was making him rich.  
  
And where had that gotten him? In the Domino City Asylum for Incurable Insane Persons.  
  
Involuntarily, he, too, stepped back. Rosz's eyes stared into space as her head rolled around her shoulders. Another childish giggle escaped her throat, and she was one step closer to Ueyama.  
  
"Do you know what happens when someone makes Rosz very, very angry?" she asked innocently, in third person. Tears still flowed, and dropped onto the pavement like rain.  
  
Giggle. Giggle. Everyone was backing away as her shoulders shook with insane mirth. She answered her own question:  
  
"She snaps, and goes coo-coo!" Rosz chirped gleefully, still smiling that unnerving insane grin. She stepped closer.   
  
Then, she adds:  
  
"And they never live to make that mistake again."  
  
-*- -*- -*-  
~*~ ~*~  
-*- -*- -*-  
  
Rosz: Hehe, when I wrote that part, I kinda freaked myself out. Prob'ly 'cause I wrote it in the dark..? *shrugs* Oh well. Anyways, THANK YOU ALL! (-^_^-) Thanks for reviewing, I REALLY appreciate it. Loads of gratitude.  
  
Yuriko: She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to get online tonite. Because she got Second Honors for second trimester, she really wasn't supposed to be going online much.  
  
Rosz: *sweatdrop* For me, getting second honors is NOT a good thing.  
  
Yuriko: *slightly nods* Anyways, her parents ((sorta kinda)) got over it. Although they are still a bit miffed over that.  
  
Rosz: *scowls* All because of some Language Arts essay I didn't hand in. (And I did it too!) As a result, I got an average of 87. Big bummer for my parents. Me too. (-_-) To top that off, all my grades decreased.. Even Math..  
  
Anyhow, meesa wanted to apologize for this short chapter.  
  
Yuriko: *rolls eyes* "Short" chapter indeed. And she would also like to add that she is terribly sorry for not reviewing any fics that have been updated that she's been reading. She was "diagnosed" with "finger-gitis".  
  
((Bleu: ^___^ I made that up. *holds a recorder, and presses the Play button* "Wishing you Good luck, Happiness, and Prosperity. Sponsored by Clown Vamp Inc.))  
  
Rosz: *cough* Actually, it was because I'm kinda short on free time.. Anyways, 'nuff said. Five reviews is all I'm asking for this chapter, and if I get 'em, chapter 5 will be up. Oh, and SORRY! I know that there isn't any plot development YET, but all this crap's kinda necessary to the fic.  
  
~*Foot-Notes*~  
[1] "Watashi wa Haqikah Yuriko desu"-- 'Watashi was _(name)_ desu' means 'My name is _(name)_', but it is usually used by girls. ((Actually, I'm not pretty positive that's what it translate to. Japanese words often have different meanings, like our English.))  
  
[2] Bleu was preparing to go to 'Bishop Ford'-- well, I wasn't sure if she'd go or not. She's still checking if she's accepted to this public high school..  
  
[3] "Boku wa Ueyama"-- 'Boku wa _(name)_' also means 'my name is _(name)_', but only boys use this. ((Same story. Am under the assum'tion that only boys say this.))  
  
..[4] DO REVIEW!! ^_^ Heh, We'll see more Yami B in the next chappi! I pwomise! Oh, and Occult Egyptian Princess? (Uhm, sorry, but you keep on changing your pen-name! @_@ Imma gettin' confuzzled.) You'll see your 'contribution' soon enough.  
  
-  
.. And everyone else.. People.. ^-^ REVIEW, people, REVIEW!! 


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